The Fall of Languages Worldwide

Fall of the Akkadian Language ebrew, the Holy Language; a Semitic and one of the oldest language; language of the Bible, also called the Language of Canaan; originally language of the Israelites; Moses had to write the Torah in Hebrew; the Ten Commandments were written by God in the Hebrew language. The Hebrew speaking people traditionally begins their history with Abraham being promised by God that he would become the father of a great nation. Abraham, declares his belief in the Oneness of God, later becomes basis of Judaism. Abraham's grandson Jacob was renamed Israel and, according to the Biblical account, his 12 sons became the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel. In around 1300 BC, the Hebrew-born Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince, Servant of God becomes the deliverer of the Hebrew slaves. Leading the Exodus of around 600,000 Hebrews, men, women and children, out of the Egyptian bondage, Moses crossed the Red Sea; then they base themselves at Mount Sinai, where Moses receives the Ten Commandments. The First commandment endorses Abraham’s belief in the Oneness of God. It reads: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me." Then Moses dispatched Twelve Spies - a group of Israelite chieftains, one from each of the Twelve Tribes, to scout out the Land of Canaan for 40 days. During their visit, the spies saw fortified cities and resident giants, which frightened them; subsequently ten of the spies were of the opinion that it was not possible for the Israelites to conquer the land as God had promised. As a result, the entire nation was made to wander in the desert for 40 years. After the death of Moses, Joshua becomes the leader of the Hebrews, he was one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore and report on the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:16-17). Joshua lived through the 40 year wandering period; he was born in Egypt prior to the Exodus. He led the Israelite tribes in the conquest of Canaan - a land of city-states. Each city had its own king and to conquer the land each city would have to be defeated. God com¬manded that all Canaanites be de¬stroyed or driven from the land (Num. 33:51-56; Deut. 7:1-5). The first battle after the crossing of the Jordan was the Battle of Jericho. Thirteen times the city was circled and then the walls fell, Israelites took the city and destroyed it; more or less all the people of the city were killed. The Bible says that when the walls collapsed, the Israelites stormed the city and set it on fire. “The destruction was complete. Then Joshua sent 3,000 soldiers, who defeated citizens of Ai. The result was that all 12,000 of the male in¬habitants of Ai were killed, the king hanged, and the city reduced to ashes. With Jericho, Ai, and Bethel con¬trolled, Joshua took the people, according to God’s instruction (Deut. 27:1-26), north to Shechem to renew God’s covenant. However, Joshua by way of conquest occupied the area on the east of the Jordan from the Arnon River in the south to Mount Hermon in the north, and on the west from below the Dead Sea in the south to Mount Hermon again in the north. During the conquest, 31 kings were killed; their names and of their cities being given in Joshua 12:10-24. One main city, however, was not taken, and that was Jerusalem; it remained in the hands of Cannanites for a further period of around two hundred years, until King David seized it later. During the wars, the surviving Canaanites scattered throughout the land. Following the conquest of Canaan by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel, the Israelite Tribes formed a loose confederation; in times of crisis, the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as judges. According to tradition, the Hebrew speaking tribes formed the first United Kingdom of Israel in around 1020 BC, under Saul of Benjamin tribe (circa 1079 – 1007 BC) as its first king. In around 1020 BC, Saul became the first king of the Israelites. Saul was marvelously handsome; in war he was able to march 120 miles without rest. According to the Bible, Saul was anointed by the prophet Samuel and reigned, from Gibeah (north of Jerusalem). During the reign of Saul, the Philistines attacked Israel. They were settled in southern Canaan and considered as the most dangerous enemy of Israel. However, Saul led out his army to face them at Mount Gilboa, where the Israelites were decisively defeated. King Saul attempted suicide to avoid capture, however he was slain at the Battle of Mount Gilboa; three of his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua were also killed during the war (1 Samuel 31:2; 1 Chronicles 10:2). Saul was succeeded by Ish-bosheth his only surviving son, who became king of Israel, at the age of forty. Ish-bosheth reigned for two years and was killed by two of his own captains. (2 Samuel 4:5) The only male descendant of Saul to survive was Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, (2 Samuel 4:4) who had been five when his father and grandfather Saul had died in the battle of Mount Gilboa. Subsequently David, aged 30 is anointed king of the United Kingdom of Israel (c. 1003–970 BC). He was also son-in- law of Saul and commander of the army. David conquers Jerusalem and shifted there his capital from Gibeah. He embarked on successful military campaigns, David defeats the enemies of Israel, slaughtering Philistines, Moabites (in modern Jordan), Edomites (located south of Judea) Syrians and Arameans. He brings back the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem which was earlier taken away by the Philistines. Thus he secured borders of Israel. David ruled forty years over the United kingdom of Israel (seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem). In the Hebrew Bible, it is written that a human descendant of David will occupy the throne of a restored kingdom and usher in a messianic age. According to Genesis 46:12 and Ruth 4:18-22, David is the eleventh generation from Judah, the fourth son of the patriarch Jacob (Israel). Jesus of Nazareth (Jesus Christ), claimed his descent from the Biblical David, or had it claimed on his behalf. Adonijah - fourth son of David, by Haggith; claimed to be the rightful heir to the throne; he was put to death by Solomon for seeking in marriage Abishag, David's concubine. This was regarded as an act of constructive treason (I Kings, ii. 25 [A.V. 26]). David's priest Abiathar was exiled by Solomon because he had sided with rival Adonijah. David's general Joab was killed, in accord with David's deathbed request to Solomon, because he had killed generals Abner and Amasa during a peace (2 Samuel 20:8-13; 1 Kings 2:5). Subsequently, David was succeeded by his son Solomon from his favorite wife Bathsheba. Under Solomon, the United kingdom experienced a period of peace and prosperity, and cultural development. Much public building took place, including the First Temple in Jerusalem. Solomon, according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets. He proved to be the last king of the united kingdom of Israel. The Hebrew Bible credits Solomon as the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem, and portrays him as great in wisdom, wealth, and power. According to the Bible, Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. The wives are described as foreign princesses, including Pharaoh's daughter and women of Moab, Ammon, Sidon and of the Hittites. The only wife that is mentioned by name is Naamah, who is described as the Ammonite. She was the mother of Solomon's successor, Rehoboam. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Solomon is commemorated as a saint, with the title of "Righteous Prophet and King". The Qur'an states that Sulayman ruled not only people, but also hosts of Jinn, was able to understand the language of the birds and ants, and to see some of the hidden glory in the world that was not accessible to most other human beings. Ruling a large kingdom, that extended south into Yemen, via Queen of Sheba, who accepted Solomon's prophethood and religion. He was famed throughout the lands for his wisdom and fair judgments. In particular, the Qur'an denies that Solomon ever turned away from Allah. According to the Hebrew Bible, Solomon died of natural causes at around 80 years of age. Upon Solomon's death, his son, Rehoboam, aged 41, succeeded him. During the days of Rehoboam, the people of Judah under the command of Jeroboam revolted over the imposition of heavy taxes. Jeroboam was a member of the Tribe of Ephraim of Zereda; he together with the the people of Judah (northern part) promised their loyalty in return for lesser tax burden. But king Rehoboam refused to reduce taxes, rather proclaimed: "Whereas my father laid upon you a heavy yoke, so shall I add tenfold thereto. Whereas my father chastised (tortured) you with whips, so shall I chastise you with scorpions. For my littlest finger is thicker than my father's loins; and your backs, which bent like reeds at my father's touch, shall break like straws at my own touch." As a result, the people of the northern part, known as Israel rebelled; the Ten of the Tribes of Israel also refused to accept Rehoboam as king. Sunsequently, the kindom of Judah split in 932/931 BC and form the northern Kingdom of Israel ruled by Jeroboam, while Rehoboam son of Solomon continued to reign the remaining southern part of Judah. Jeroboam established Shechem as the capital of his kingdom. In the 5th year of Rehoboam's reign Shishaq, king of Egypt, brought a huge army and took many cities. When they laid siege to Jerusalem, Rehoboam gave Shishaq all of the treasures out of the temple as a tribute. Judah became a vassal state of Egypt. Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 concubines. They bore him 28 sons and 60 daughters. He reigned for 17 years. After death, he was succeeded by his son Abijah as king of Judah (915 - 912 BC). Abijam married fourteen wives, and had 22 sons and 16 daughters. To reunite the kingdom, and to bring Israel under his control, Abijah waged a major battle against King Jeroboam of Israel in the mountains of Ephraim. 2 Chronicles 13:3 gives the sizes of the two armies as 400,000 on Abijah's side and 800,000 on Jeraboam's. According to 2 Chronicles 13:17, during war 500,000 of Jeroboam's troops were slain. However, Abijah failed to reunite Israel and Judah. When Abijah died, he was buried in Jerusalem, and his son, Asa, became the new king of Judah. The Hebrew Bible gives the period of his reign as 41 years (913-910 BC to 873-869 BC). During the reign of Asa, the Bible states of an invasion by the Egyptian-backed chieftain Zerah the Ethiopian and his million men and 300 chariots was defeated by Asa's 580,000 men in the Valley of Zephath, near Mareshah. (2 Chronicles 14:9-15) The Ethiopians were pursued all the way to Gerar, in the coastal plain; as a result, Judah was free from Egyptian incursions for a long time. In Asa's 36th year, Baasha, king of Israel (900 - 877 BC) attacked Judah and fortified Ramah - a city five miles north of Jerusalem. King Asa approached Ben-Hadad I, king of Syria (Aram Damascus) for military assistance and paid him all the silver and gold in his treasuries as well as in the Temple. Subsequently, Baasha was forced by the Ben-Hadad armies to vacate the city of Ramah. Immediately after the partition of Israel, both the kingdoms remained at war for many centuries to come. Judah always struggled to recapture Israel so as to reunite the kingdom; at the other hand Israel insisted and fought for its independence. They were the Israelites, who gave the message of "Oneness of God," at a time, when the entire world had a belief in multiple gods and goddesses. In the Middle East, variety of gods were introduced by most of the great conquerors, from god An, Enlil and Enki to Shamash, goddess Ishtar to Marduk; they had achieved the universal status. In the neighboring Egypt, there were Ra, Amon, goddess Isis, god Osiris and Horus and many others, ruling over the Egyptian's mind and heart as the greatest gods. Adjacent to Israel and Judah, there was a most powerful city of Tyre (in Lebanon), founded around 2750 BC, which eventually emerged as centre for the great Carthaginian empire, created by way of trade. Tyre was considered as the birth place of Europa as well as of Dido - the founder and first queen of Carthage. Europa, princess of Tyre was raped by Zeus, the king of the gods according to Greek mythology. Europa had by Zeus three sons including King Minos of Crete, who is the founder of the first European civilization. The city of Tyre had introduced Ba'al also identified as Hadad; he demanded offerings in the shape of human sacrifice, exclusively innocent children. The Ba'al had emerged as one of the greatest gods of the ancient world. He was worshipped in the most parts of the Middle East, North Africa and all along the Mediterranean region. Under such circumstances, when there were innumerable great gods, supported by the super powers, it was very difficult for a small nation to survive with the message of the Oneness of God. Subsequently, they severly suffered; they were tortured, killed, massacred, deported, dispered at the pain of death from their mother land. But they never surrendered, never agreed to bow before the emperors except God. At this stage, no one was prepared to accept the idea of Oneness of God; they orgued, how one God can handle the entire universe; how one god can control the winds, the seas, the air and many other functions. This was the period, when Assyrians had emerged as the great conquerors of the ancient world; they kept on conquering all the nations inhabiting the Middle East. Subsequently they established the most powerful empire on earth known as the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Each year the large Assyrian armies marched for hunting the people and to occupy their lands, resources and properties. By repeated arracks, they used to exhaust rather cripple militarly and economically independent nations, so that they must surrender. Adad-nirari II (c. 911-891 BC) the first King of the Neo-Assyrian period, led six campaigns against Aramaean people of Aram (modern Syria). He was followed by Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC) with the same mission. To maintain and save independence, the Aramaean people time and again had to surrender their lives; they were killed, massacred kidnapped and deported to unknown areas; their settlements were burnt to ashes. Under such circumstances, when Shalmaneser III of Assyria (858-824) moved forward to reinvade Aramaeans, they made alliance with all those neighbouring nations, who had the similar threat from the Assyrians. According to the Assyrian chronicles, a coalition of twelve kings was formed, against the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, headed by Ben-Hadad II (Hadadezer), king of Aram Damascus (Syria). Others included Egyptians, Phoenicians, Hittites, Ammonites and Arabian tribes together with the King of Hamath and Ahab, king of Israel. In 853 BC, they all were together at the Battle of Qarqar (modern Syrian site of Tell Qarqur), against Shalmaneser III. It was one of the great battles of antiquity. According to the Syrian text, their army totaled 3,940 chariots, 1,900 cavalry, over 62,000 infantry, and 1,000 camel riders. Although Shalmaneser claimed victory, the records indicate that the battle ended in a deadlock, as the Assyrian forces were withdrawn soon afterwards. After this battle, Shalmaneser invaded for further six times, within a decade, to achieve his goal, until at least 841 BC. At his every attack, people were killed, massacred, kidnapped and looted; their lands were pillaged. They would often kill every single person even prisoners of war. It was part of the Assyrian's strategy to exhaust and cripple the nations. However, Shalmaneser describes the fight (Battle of Qarqar) in his own wordings: "With the supreme forces which Assur, my lord (Assyrian god) had given me and with the mighty weapons ... I fought with them. I decisively defeated them from the city of Qarqar to the city of Gilzau. I felt with the sword 14,000 troops, their fighting men ... I made their blood flow in the wadis ... I blocked the Orontes river with their corpses as with a causeway. In the midst of the battle I took away from them chariots, cavalry, and teams of horses." In 841 BC, Shalmaneser again invaded the Arameans of Aram-Damascus then ruled by king Hazael (c. 842 BC-805 BC) and besieged the city. Previously Hazael was commander-in-chief of the kingdom of Aram-Damascus; he killed its king Benhadad II, and himself became king. However, Shalmaneser agreed to withdraw his forces against a huge amount as ransom paid by the king Hazael. Shalmaneser also forced King Jehu of Israel (842-815 BC) and the Phoenician states of Tyre, and Sidon to pay ransom. The situation turned around, when king Hazael of Aram Damacus (c. 842 - 805 BC) led the army to invade both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. He defeated Jehoram, king of Israel (849 - 842 BC) and occupied all of the territories of Israel beyond the Jordan river, in the lands of Gilead, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh (10:32f). During war king Jehoram was wounded; taking advantage of the situation, his general Jehu revolted and took the throne and became king of Israel (841-814 BC). At the other side, Hazael turned to king Ahaziah of Judah (842 - 815 BC) so as to occupy Jerusalem. Finally Hazael withdrew his forces from Jerusalem after receiving huge ransom from king Jehoahaz in the shape of all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and in the king's palace (2 Kings 12:18; 2 Chr. 24:24). According to the account given in the Second Book of Kings, king Ahaziah and the deported king Jehoram of Israel (nephew of Ahaziah), both went out to meet the rebellious general Jehu. Further record reveals that Jehu slain Jehoram; under the situation king Ahaziah fled from the scene along the road to Beth-haggan. Jehu rode after him, shouting, "shoot him, too!" So Ahaziah was shot in his chariot at the Ascent of Gur, near Ibleam. He was able to go on as far as Megiddo, where he died. General Jehu ruled Israel as king from 842 to 815 BC; after death, he was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz as king of Israel (815 – 801 BC). During his days, Adad-nirari III (810-783 BC) emperor of Assyria attacked Aram Damascus in 803 BC, defeated its king Ben-Hadad III. As a result, the defeated Arameans army had to vacate the occupied territory of Israel. Jehoash, the grandson of general Jehu, king of Israel (798 – 782 BC) invaded Judah, then under king Amaziah (797 - 767 BC). During war, king Amaziah was defeated and arrested at Beth-shemesh, on the borders of Dan and Philistia. Jehoash took Amaziah as a prisoner. Jehoash also invaded and sacked Jerusalem, broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, took all the gold and silver, all the articles that were found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king's house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria. In the meantime Amaziah fled from captivity but was caught at Lachish, where he was slain. His body was brought upon horses to Jerusalem, where it was buried in the royal sepulchre (2 Kings 14:19, 20; 2 Chr. 25:27, 28). Then, one of Amaziah's sons, Uzziah also known as Azariah, became king of Judah at the age of sixteen. He reigned for fifty-two years (783 – 742 BC). He is recorded as having built the Upper Gate of the Temple of Jerusalem, and extended the "wall of Ophel". His long period is considered as the most prosperous and peaceful. After death, Uzziah was succeeded by his son Jotham. During the reign of Jotham (742 – 735 BC), Israel (under king Pekah) and Aram Damascus (under king Rezin) jointly prepared to invade kingdom of Judah. Previously Pekah was army commander, who conspired and occupied the throne of Israel after killing its king Pekahiah, who ruled Israel from 738 to 737 BC. King Ahaz of Judah sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser III, king of Assyria (745 –727 BC) for help, then the most dominating power in the region. While saying, I am thy servant and thy son; come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria (Aram Damascus), and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. King Ahaz also paid for the job, all the gold and silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's palace. Subsequently Tiglath-Pileser invaded and conquered the kingdom of Aram Damascus and executed its king Rezin. According to 2 Kings 16:9, the population of Aram Damascus was deported to Assyria. Then, Tiglath-Pileser invaded Israel and occupied its major cities, including Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He also took Gilead and Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people of Israel to Assyria. In the meantime, king Pekah of Israel was murdered by Hoshea, the son of Elah, who eventually proved to be the last king of Israel; he reigned in between 732 – 721 BC. After the death of Tiglath-Pileser III in 722 BC, Hoshea refused to pay tribute to Assyrians and approached the king of Egypt for his assistance. Tiglath-Pileser was succeeded by his son Shalmaneser V (727 to 722 BC), who arrived with large armies against Hoshea. He forced him to submit and render tribute (2 Kings 17:3). Finally Shalmaneser besieged Samaria, the capital city of Israel, which lasted continuously for three years. In the meantime Shalmaneser suddenly died and was replaced by Sargon II (722 – 705 BC) as emperor of the Assyrian empire, who continued the siege. Finally Sargon was able to occupy Samaria, destroyed the kingdom of Israel and exiled 27,290 Israelites to Assyria and placed them in colonies in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. With this, Ten Tribes of ancient Israel also lost, who were the founding fathers of this kingdom. They also disappeared from Biblical and all other historical accounts as the kingdom of Israel was destroyed in about 720 BC by Sargon II. The deportation of the Israelites together with the Arameans continued for over a century that started from the days of Shalmaneser III (858–823 BC) after the Battle of Qarqar fought in 853 BC. The deportation was in full force during the period of Tiglath-pilezer III (r. 745 – 727 BC), Sargon II (722 – 705 BC) and Sennacherib (705 – 681 BC), who captured 46 cities, killed and deported its people. It was during the siege of Jerusalem that the Bible says the Angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Tiglath-pilezer began a three step deportation of the Hebrew speaking people of Israel; initially he deported the tribes east of the Jordan: the tribes of Reuben, Manasseh, and Gad in about 734 BC. The tribes of Dan, Naphtali, and Zebulun were taken during the invasion and the destruction of Galilee and Damascus by Tiglath-pilezer in 731 BC. The rest three tribes: Ephraim, Issachar and Asher together with the remaining Manasseh of 'Ten Tribes' were kidnapped by Sargon II at the fall of Samaria in 722 BC. Many Israelites were killed or died during the exile. However, to fill in the gap, people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim were shifted and settled in Israel. After the fall of Israel, the kingdom of Judah consisted of only four tribes: Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, and Levi. However, Israel disappeared from the map in 721 BC, but the kingdom of Judah survived for further 122 years, when it was conquered and destroyed in 586 BC by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylonia. These were the days when the greatest Assyrian empire suddenly collapsed; the allied forces of the Babylonians and Medes, together with the Scythians and Cimmerians, attacked Nineveh, capital of the Assyrian empire. After four years of bitter fighting, Nineveh was finally sacked in 612 BC. Sin-shar-ishkun, the Assyrian emperor was killed in the process. To help the Assyrians, pharaoh of Egypt Necho II (610 – 595 BC) personally marched towards Assyria while heading a large army. When he reached in the Jezreel Valley at Megiddo (Judah), he found his passage blocked by Josiah, king of Judah. Ultimately, there was a fierce war in which king Josiah was killed at the battle ground. Nevertheless, pharoah Necho II could not reach in time and was definately delayed. When he reached at the destiny, the Assyrian empire already had collapsed. Finally, pharoah Necho II returned back. He arrived in Jerusalem during 609 BC; where Jehoahaz, aged twenty-three was elected as king of Judah, in place of his father Josiah, who was killed during war with Necho II. King Jehoahaz was kidnapped to Egypt by Necho II, where he died in captivity. He could rule Judah only for three months. Jehoahaz was replaced in 608 BC, by his brother Jehoiakim, aged twenty-five, as king of Judah. Jehoiakim was renamed by Pharaoh Necho as Eliakim. Necho II, king of Egypt imposed unbearable tax on Judah - four tons of silver and 75 pounds of gold. To raise such amount Jehoiakim "taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people by house to house search. In the meantime, the Babylonians under king Nebuchadrezzar II defeated the combined forces of Egypt and the remnants of the Assyrian empire at Carchemish, in 605 BC. Subsequently the greatest and the most powerful Assyrian empire collapsed completely. It was no more a dominating force, rather was ruled by Babylonians; even Egypt lost its importance. Keeping in view such situation, king Jehoiakim of Judah changed his lotality and started paying tribute to Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon. In the meantime, king Jehoiakim, king of Judah ceased paying the tribute to Babylonia. As a result, in 599 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II invaded Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem. During seige, king Jehoiakim died in 598 BC; his body was thrown out of the walls. He was replaced by his son Jeconiah - also known as Jehoiachin. However, Jerusalem was occupied on 16 March, 597 BC, by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. He arrested the new king Jeconiah together with all his family members, his mother, wives and all officials and around three thousand Hebrew spaking people of elite class; they all were exiled to Babylon. Jeconiah remained king during the seige for three months and ten days (December 9, 598 - March 15/16, 597 BC). He spent 37 years of his life in prison. He is shown in the Babylonian tablets as recipient of food ration together with his five sons, in Babylon. Now Jeconiah was replaced by his younger brother Zedekiah, aged eighteen in 597 BC, against a huge amount of tribute. He reigned Judah for eleven years. At his eleventh year, in 589 BC, Jeconiah revolted against Babylon, and entered into an alliance with Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt. As a matter of fact, kingdom of Judah was trapped by two gangsters: Egypt and Babylone. Both asked for ransom. When Zedekiah paid ransom to Egypt, instead of Babylonia, as a result, Nebuchadnezzar II arrived in Judah with heavy force. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem for the second time in January 589 BC, which lasted about thirty months. Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar occupied Jerusalem in the summer of 587 BC. In the meantime, king Zedekiah with his family members and followers, attempting to escape; they all were arrested and and taken to Riblah. Subsequently the children and close relatives of king Zedekiah were murdered before him; then both the eyes of king Zedekiah were taken out. He was bound with fetters of brass, and carried to Babylon, where he was placed in prison till the day of his death. After the fall of Jerusalem, the Babylonian general Nebuzaraddan was sent to destroy the city completely. As a result, Jerusalem was thoroughly looted, house to house, then destroyed and burned. The Solomon's Temple was looted and destroyed down to its foundations; only some parts of the western side remain. In other parts of Judah, no one was left safe; after the loot and plunder, majority of the population of Judah were exiled to Babylon - all the army men, officials, all the skilled workers and artisans; many were taken into slavery; many people of Judah fled to Egypt; many Hebrew speaking people settled beside the Euphrates, while preserving their faith, their traditions and customs. After about fifty years, Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon in 538 BC, subsequently the Babylonian empire disappeared. Now Judah was under the Persians. Cyrus issued a proclamation granting freedom for the Hebrew speaking people (living in exile in Babylon) to return back to their mother land. According to the Hebrew Bible 50,000 Judeans, led by Zerubabel returned to Judah and rebuilt the temple; funds were provided by the Persian emperors. Further, a second group of 5,000 Hebrew speaking people, led by Ezra and Nehemiah, returned to Judah in 456 BC. These were the days when Judah was settled by non-Hebrews; they wrote to Cyrus to prevent their return of the Jews. Again after a gap of around two hundred years, Alexander the Great defeated the Persian emperor Darius III, in 331 BC, and conquered all the territories under the Persians. After the Alexander's sudden death at the age of thirty one, in 323 BC, his generals fought each other, occupied and divided the former Persian empire. Eventually Judah became part of the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus IV, emperor of the Seleucid Empire (175 - 164 BC), ordained the people of Judah to relinquish Judaism and convert to Hellenistic religion and worship Zeus as the supreme god. When they refused, Antiochus attacked Jerusalem in 167 BC; he ordered for general massacre of all young and old, men, women and children; massacre continued for three days; not a single house was spared. Around eighty thousand Hebrew speaking people lost thier lives and the same number being sold into slavery. The city of Jerusalem was put to fire and destroyed completely; no any house was spared; the women and children were made captive and sold into slavery. Jewish religion was outlawed; circumcision was made illegal; the sacred books were to be surrendered and the Jews were compelled to offer sacrifi ces to the idols that had been erected. The believers in the Oneness of God were compelled to worship Zues and the other Greek gods. The sacred Temple of Solomon was dedicated to Zues, whose statue was placed in the Temple. Jews were prohibited to observe the Sabbath or celebrate the traditional feasts, nor even admit that they were Jews; many were whipped and crucified. A decree was issued ordering that those who would not adopt the customs of the Greeks would be put to death. The possession of a sacred book Torah and the performance of the rite of circumcision was punishable with death. Any one found calling himself Jew would be killed instantly. Many were burned to death, who had assembled to observe the Sabbath in secret. However, the believers in the Oneness of God, fully resisted the move; ultimately it turned into a revolt headed by a priest named Mattathias (168 - 166 BC). The armed men of the emperor Antiochus were assigned the duty to check whether the Jews had converted to Greek religion (Hellenism) or not. In 167 BC, one of its group reached in the village of Modein, they asked the villagers to offer sacrifices to Zues. They exclusively commanded Mattathias, priest of the village to offer sacrifices. He refused and killed the group officials. This incident turned into a Maccabean revolt against Antiochus. His officials and army men were killed; even those Jews were also killed who had under duress had followed the Hellenistic belief. The aged priest Mattathias was much too old for such a rigorous lifestyle, however, and died in 166 BC. The mission was carried by five of his sons, headed by Judah, who assumed leadership of the revolt in accordance with the deathbed disposition of his father. Judah repeatedly repullsed series of attacks made by the Seleucid forces; after several years of conflict Judah drove out Seleucid army and officials from Jerusalem, removed the Hellenistic statues, rededicated the Temple to God and restored the service in the Temple, on December 25, 165 BC. In retaliation, emperor Antiochus sent Lysias, the commander-in-chief of the Seleucid army, along with 60,000 infantrymen and 5000 cavalry, to utterly destroy the Jews. They encountered Judas, but ultimately failed. Again in the autumn of 163 BC, Lysias arrived with an army of 120,000 men and 32 war elephants, met Judas and his army near Jerusalem. During the battle, Eleazer (the younger brother of Judas) died. But Lysias had to withdraw his forces. Finally Lysias, agreed to restore religious freedom to Jews if they remain politically loyal to the Seleucid Empire; they were allowed to live in accordance with their own laws, and officially returned the Temple to the Jews in 163 BC. After the death of Seleucus IV, Demetrius I, son of and the new ruler of the Seleucid empire (161-150 BC), defeated and killed Judas, in 160 BC. After the death of Judah Maccabee, two of his brothers Jonathan and Simon took the command; they fought for further several years; finally the Jews achieved independence, named the country Israel, they were freed after almost 400 years of foreign bondage and survived for over a century until 63BC. It was during this period (in between 134-104 BC), Israel conquered Edom, and forcibly converted the Edomites to Judaism. Edom - a country located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. Originally, Edom was conquered by Judas Maccabeus in around 163 BC. They were again subdued by John Hyrcanus (134 - 104 BC) - leader of a Hasmonean (Maccabeean), who forcibly incorporated them into the Jewish nation. In the meantime, two new conquerors Rome and the Parthians had emerged against the Seleucid empire. By 100 BC, the once formidable Seleucid Empire encompassed little more than Antioch and some Syrian cities. In 63 BC, the Roman General Pompey made Syria into a Roman province. Subsequently Seleucid Empire disappeared from the map. In the same year, Pompey captured Jerusalem and once again Jews were deprived of their independence. They again had to struggle for survival as an independent nation. In 40 BC, the Roman senate appointed Harod, descended from Edom, as king of the Jews, thereby bringing about the end of the Hasmonean rule over Judea. The fall of the Hasmonean Kingdom marked an end to a century of Jewish self-governance. However, Harod was authorised to rule Judea, Samaria, and almost all of Palestine, on behalf of the Romans. He is also known as Herod the Great; he enlarged the Temple, making it one of the largest religious structures in the world. Herod sent out his soldiers to slaughter all male children two years old and under in Bethlehem and the surrounding neighborhoods. (Matthew 2:1-4, 7, 16) After ruling for about 37 years, Herod died at Jericho about 4 BC. The Herodian dynasty, ruled until AD 92. Some of its members were made rulers of Chalcis and Armenia. Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod, was made ruler of the Galilee and Perea; he is also the person referenced in the Christian New Testament Gospels, playing a role in the death of John the Baptist and the trial of Jesus. Since, most of the Great Conquerors of the world had introduced their own gods and goddesses, similarly the Romans also tried to evolve a new religion, headed by their own gods and goddesses, known in history as 'Imperial cult.' Although they already had a belief in a pantheon headed by Jupiter, but side by side, they cautiously moved for a new pantheon. They started projecting the Roman emperors as gods, dead or alive; temples, amphitheatres, theatres and baths were constructed and dedicated to the new gods; priests were appointed and the defeated people were compelled at the pain of death to worship them all over the empire. Firstly, the Roman General Julius Caesar (49 - 44 BC) was declared a god. It was propagated that General Julius Caesar was the descendant of the Roman goddess Venus and the god Mars. His birthday was made a public festival; the Roman month Quinctilis was renamed July, and a Temple was dedicated in his honour. General Julius Caesar was conqueror of Gaul, who also invaded Britain. While conquering Gaul, he destroyed 800 cities of 300 Galic tribes, defeated three million men of whom one million were killed during the wars, and another million were enslaved. In 44 BC, Julius Caesar was surrounded by 60 Senators and others; they stabbed him to death within the premises of the Senate. It was feared that the Caesar wanted to establish kingship by abolishing the Roman Republic. According to the Roman law, such persons were required to be killed without trial. Julius Caesar was succeeded by General Octavian (31 BC - Ad 14) who terrorized the senate by killing 300 senators and 2000 knights; he established kingship rather empire and became its first emperor and obtained the title 'Augustus'. He proclaimed to be the Son of god (of Julius Caesar), thus became the living god. General Octivian was the conqueror of Hispania, all of Gaul, Syria, Cilicia (Armenian Kingdom), Cyprus, and Egypt. Again for the god emperor Tiberius (AD 14 - 37), a temple in Smyrna (present-day Turkey) was allocated with the approval of the Roman senate during AD 26; it was endorsed that Tiberius was born for the eternity of the Rome. He was the conquor of Pannonia, Dalmatia, Raetia, and temporarily Germania for the Empire. The Gospels record that during Tiberius' reign, Jesus of Nazareth preached and was crucified under the authority of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judaea province. The Roman god and Emperor Caligula (AD 37 - 41) referring to himself in public documents as Jupiter - the greatest god of the Roman pantheon. To worship Emperor Caligula, two temples were erected in Rome and one in the Greek city of Miletus (present-day Turkey). While in public, some times he presented himself as Hercules and Apollo. He preferred to be worshipped as Sun-god. In Egypt, coins were issued representing Caligula as Sun-god. He even pressurized the Senators to worship him as a living god. However, all over the empire, the defeated nations were ordained to worship Caligula as god; he sent the governor of Syria, Publius Petronius, to place his statue in the Temple, in Jerusalem to be worshipped by the Jews as god. He issued orders, those who refuse should be cut down and the rest to be carried into captivity. Subsequently riots erupted in Jerusalem and Alexandria during AD 40. Jews refused to worship Caligula as god; they destroyed his statue. Although, all over the Roman Empire, the defeated people began to worship the Roman emperors as gods and temples were built in their honour. For another Roman god and emperor Claudius (AD 41 - 54), a temple was constructed in Britain and the British people were ordained to worship him as a living god. He was the conqueror of Thrace, Noricum, Pamphylia, Lycia and Judaea, and also began the conquest of Britain. After death, Claudius was given a temple on Mons Caelius - one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. He was succeeded after death by Nero. Nero, the new Roman emperor (54 - 68 AD), claimed for himself to be a Sun-god; a magnificient bronze statue Colossus Neronis 30 meter in height, was erected in the imperial villa complex, on the Palatine Hill of Rome. Nero killed his pragnent wife Poppaea by kicking her in the abdomen, thereby causing her death. Then Nero declared his wife Poppaea as goddess together with his infant daughter Claudia Augusta, who had died after birth within three months. Gold statues were placed in temples and circus games were held in their honour. A priest was appointed to manage and supervise worship of both the goddesses. The Roman emperor as well as the Sun-god Nero was extremely annoyed of the Jews; they were only the subject nations all over the Roman Empire, who had refused to worship the Romans Emperors as gods. The god emperor Nero issued two simple commands - destroy Jerusalem - level the temple. The job was handed over to Vespasian - the conqueror of Britain (AD 43), who was to be assisted by his son Titus. General Vespasian, along with legions landed at Ptolemais in April 67. There he was joined by his son Titus, who arrived from Alexandria. Vespasian began operations by subjugating Galilee; Jews were killed in Caesarea, Scythopolis, Ascolon, Tyre, and in Alexandri. In the summer of 70 the offensive was launched in Jerusalem. The Jewish forces were under Simon bar-Giora and Yohanan of Gush-Halab (John of Gischala). The Romans surrounded Jerusalem and seiged the city. The siege of Jerusalem lasted for 6 months; Unable to breach the city's defences, the Roman armies established a permanent camp just outside the city, digging a trench around the circumference of its walls and building a wall as high as the city walls themselves around Jerusalem. Those attempting to escape the city were crucified, with as many as five hundred crucifixions occurring in a day. By the summer of 70, the Romans had breached the walls of Jerusalem; after bitter fighting and frightful massacres; the slaughter within was even more dreadful than the spectacle from without. Men and women, old and young, insurgents and priests, those who fought and those who entreated mercy, were hewn down in indiscriminate carnage. The number of the slain exceeded that of the slayers. The legionaries had to clamber over heaps of dead to carry on the work of extermination. The Holy City was taken and burned; more than a million Jews were slaughtered. According to estimates, in all, 1,356,460 Jews died; 97,000 were captured and enslaved, including Simon bar Giora and John of Giscala, leaders of the Revolt; 11,000 died of starvation; many others fled to areas around the Mediterranean. The temple was leveled to the ground and utterly destroyed on Jewish Sabbath, August 10th, 70. Simon bar Giora was taken prisoner and brought to Rome, where he was executed near the Temple of Jupiter, at the Tarpeian Rock. John of Giscala was paraded through the streets of Rome in chains and was sentenced to life imprisonment. After the war ended, Israel was converted into a Roman Province. But the Jews continued struggle for independence; it gave rise to a series of Jewish-Roman wars including Bar Kokhba's revolt (132–135). In AD 130, the Roman emperor Hadrian (AD 117 to 138) arrived in Jerusalem. He decided to establish a new city over the ruins of Jerusalem. The city was completely destroyed, every wall was pull down and plowed up to make way for the new Roman city - Colonia Aelia Capitolina. The new city was dedicated to Hadrian and to the Jupiter Capitolinus, the greatest god of Rome. A large temple of Jupiter was also built on the site of the sacred Second Temple and a temple of Venus on the site of Golgotha. The city had the usual Roman structures such as a theater, a hippodrome, public baths, and an aqueduct. No Jews were allowed in the city, or even within sight of it - a condition that prevailed until the 4th century, and even then they were allowed to visit the city only for one day on 9 Ab to bewail the destruction of the temple. To root out Judaism, Hadrian prohibited the Torah law, the Hebrew calendar and executed many Judaic scholars. He remaned Judaea as Syria Palaestina (after the Philistines), and the Jews were forbidden from entering in Jerusalem, now called Aelia Capitolina. These anti-Jewish policies of Hadrian triggered in Judaea a massive Jewish uprising, led by Simon bar Kokhba and Akiba ben Joseph. Following the outbreak of the revolt, Hadrian called his general Sextus Julius Severus from Britain, and troops were brought from as far as the Danube. However, Hadrian's army eventually put down the rebellion in 135, after three years of fighting. It is estimated that, during the war 580,000 Jews were killed, while many others were sold into slavery. Around 50 fortified towns and 985 villages razed. The final battle took place in Beitar, a fortified city 10 kilo meter southwest of Jerusalem. The city only fell after a lengthy siege, and Hadrian only allowed the Jews to bury their dead after a period of six days. From then on, the Jews scattered over the face of the earth, became the wandering people, without temple. Hadrian died on the 10th of July, 138; his body was cremated, and his ashes were finally placed in a great mausoleum; he was declared a god with the approval of the Roman Senate. A great temple in the Campus Martius was built to his memory in the early 140s, now called the Hadrianeum, one of the largest in Rome. For the next 1900 years, the Temple Mount would lack any Jewish presence. The Hebrew speaking Jews scattered throughout the world; they lost their mother land, their nationality as well as their language. It was the major decline and fall of the Hebrew language; no nation over the globe had suffered to that extent for their faith in the Oneness of God. The most despotic rulers, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Macedonians, the Greeks and the Romans applied all type of physical torture over them; they were crucified, beheaded, impayled, burned and burried alive; time and again they were rooted out from their lands, sold into slavery, but the Jews never ever agreed to relinquish faith in the Oneness of God. During the long 1900 years exile, they were found in Egypt, in Rome, in England, in Spain, in Ukrain, in Poland, in Russia, in Germany, in the United States and in the other parts of the world. Even in these areas, they were again massacred, killed and repeatedly deported from one place to other. In 1948, Hebrew was reborn after a long period of over nineteen centuries and is written much the same way as the language of the Bible; it is now the official rather principal language of the new State of Israel, with a capital at Jerusalem. Today, over 3 million people speak Hebrew either as their maternal, adopted, or religious tongue. Fall of the Aramaic - language of Jesus Christ The Aramaic - originated in Aram - an ancient region in central Syria between 1000 and 600 BC; Aramaic is one of the Semitic languages, known almost from the beginning of human history; of all Semitic languages the Aramaic is most closely related to the Hebrew; it became extremely widespread, spoken from the Mediterranean coast to the borders of India. Its script, derived from Phoenician became extremely popular and was adopted to write quite a few other languages, and developed into a number of new alphabets, including the Hebrew square script and cursive script, Nabataean, Syriac, Palmyrenean, Mandaic, Sogdian, Mongolian and probably the Old Turkic script. At its height, Aramaic became the lingua franca and the international trade language of the ancient Middle East, Western Asia and Egypt for about one thousand years from about 7th century BC until the 7th century AD. Aramaic also served as the official and written language of the great empires in the Middle East; Assyrian Empire adopted Aramaic as its official language, parallel to Akkadian. Later by the Neo Babylonian (Chaldean) Empire (626-539 BC) and the Persian Achaemenid Empire (539-330 BC). Aramaic is also the language of large sections of the biblical books of Daniel and Ezra and is the main language of the Talmud. Before the Christian era, Aramaic had become the language of the Jews in Palestine. Jesus, his disciples and contemporaries spoke and wrote in Aramaic. The message of Christianity spread throughout Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia exclusively in Aramaic. The Hebrew patriarchs preserved their Aramaic names and spoke in Aramaic. Christians in Palestine eventually rendered portions of Christian Scripture into their dialect of Aramaic; these translations and related writings constitute "Christian Palestinian Aramaic." When the Romans, under Titus destroyed Jerusalem and its Second Temple in AD 70, enslaved the Jews, they had become almost completely an Aramaic- speaking people. During the Hellenistic period, that followed the conquests of Alexander the Great and imposition of Greek language, Aramaic remained the vernacular of the defeated peoples in the Holy Land, Syria, Mesopotamia and the adjacent countries. The first known inscriptions of Aramaic date to the late tenth or early ninth century BC. Aramaic survives today, in Eastern and Western dialects, mostly as the language of Christians living in a few scattered communities in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Iran. History Aramaic - the name derived from Aram - an ancient Aramaean state around Damascus in Syria, from the late 12th century BC to 734 BC. The sources for the early history of Aram are almost nonexistent. In about 1500 BC, the Aramaeans migrated and settled in Syria. By 1200 BC, Damascus became a prosperous Aramaean city. Prior to Aramaeans, an unidentified people lived in Syria by about 4500 BC; then the area was settled by Semites in around 3500 BC. In the late third millennium BC, first city-state of Ebla was established in Syria; some 20,000 cuneiform tablets have been discovered from its ruins dated around 2250 BC, written in the Eblaite — a form of Semitic language, closely related Akkadian. A statue of the goddess Ishtar, worshipped exclusively by the Akkadians was also recovered bearing the name of Ibbit-Lim, a king of Ebla. Sargon of Akkad and his grandson Naram-sin, each claimed to have destroyed Ebla. However, after several centuries, Ebla was recovered and settled by the Amorites in between 1850 to 1600 BC; these settlers also established one of the greatest empires in the Middle East, under Hammurabi (died c. 1750 BC), centered at Babylon. In the 9th century BC, Aram Damascus was the most important of the Aramean kingdoms stretched over most of Golan to the Sea of Galilee. The Assyrian texts also mention a state with its capital in Damascus. The state seems to have reached its peak under Hazael, who fought against the Assyrians. The Hebrew Bible also gives some accounts of Aram-Damascus' history, mainly in its interaction with Israel. For instance, there are texts mentioning David's battles against Aramaeans in southern Syria in the 10th century BC. (2 Samuel 9:6-19) In the 8th century BC, Rezin of Aram had been a tributary of Tiglath-Pileser III, the king of Assyria. In c. 732 BC, he allied himself with Pekah, the king of Israel, to attack Ahaz, the king of Judah. However, Ahaz appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III for help. As a result, Tiglath-Pileser sacked Damascus and annexed Aram. According to 2 Kings 16:9, the population was deported and the king Rezin was slained. Tiglath-Pileser also records this act in one of his inscriptions. This was the turning point, in the history of Aramaic language; at this juncture, the Assyrians, for the third time, remerged as the most dominating force in Middle East, under Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727 BC). Most of the nations of the Middle East were invaded and conquered by the Assyrians; in turn all the defeated nations, time and again struggled, waged wars against the Assyrians to regain their independence. But they were again and again defeated and had to surrender their territories, resources, wealth and man-power to the Assyrians. There is a long list of those kingdoms conquered by the Assyrians; they all in turn struggled to regain independence, such as: Babylonia, Urartu, Aram (Syria), Egypt, Elam, Phoenicia, Philistia, Israel, Judah, Edom, Phrygia, Lydia, Cyprus, Cilicia and many others. It was not easy to gain independence from the Assyrians; in retaliation, they were severely punished, tortured, maimed, flayed alive, impaled, beheaded, burnt alive, their eyes were ripped out, fingers, noses and ears cut off. Even the defeated kings, army commanders, their supporters and high officials were not spared. The surviving people, young and old, men and women were kidnapped, uprooted from their mother lands and deported to unknown places; their cities, towns and villages were destroyed, burned, raised to ground. Out of these nations, the Aramaic speaking people of Aram (Syria) were one of those nations, who after each defeat, declared independence, at the first available chance; neither the Assyrians left them to survive in peace, nor the Aramaeans made peace with the Assyrian monarchs at the cost of their independence. It was observed that every child born over the soil of Aramaeans brought with him the message of independence. The raids over the Aramaeans started with the rise of the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (ca. 1240 BC) followed by Tiglath-Pileser I (ca. 1100 BC), Ashur- bel-kala (ca. 1070 BC), Adad-nirari II (ca. 911), Tukulti-Ninurta II (ca. 890), Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC) and Shalmaneser III (859 BC – 824 BC). After each defeat, most of the Aramaeans were deported enmass to the far flung areas of the Assyrian empire under the severe conditions; many would die on roads. They were intermixed with other unknown peoples, so that they may loose their identity, nationality, culture and religious faith. Such a dirty and inhuman practice remained intact for the entire longest period of the Assyrians. As a result, the Aramaean people became major part of the Assyrian population exclusively in Assyria and Babylonia, and their language Aramaic became so popular within the empire that, it emerged as the lingo franca of the Middle East. The Assyrian emperor Tiglath-Pileser III (747 - 722 BC) also declared Aramaic together with the Akkadian, as the official language of his empire, together with the Babylonian kingdom. Tiglath-Pileser III is considered as the founder of the Neo Assyrian empire. He conquered Babylonia and crowned himself as Pulu King of Babylon. He also invaded and captured Urartu, Aramea - lands of the Aramaeans; he also occupied Judah, Arpad, Philistia (Palestine), Phoenicia, Hamath and defeated the Medes, Persians and Neo-Hittites. He conquered Israel and deported large proportions of the Israelite population of Galilee (northern Israel) to Assyria. As soon as Tiglath-Pileser III died in 727 BC, the Aramaean rulers declared independence. Tiglath-Pileser III was succeeded by Shalmaneser V (727 - 722 BC). He had to face two challenges at the Aramaeans lands and in Israel, where Hoshea (732-723 BC), last king of Israel had revolted and refused to pay tribute to the Assyrians. Israel was the land, where every born child brought the message of Oneness of God - not acceptable to those, who believed in multiple gods. However, Shalmaneser V, himself besieged Samaria, capital city of Israel. The siege of Samaria lasted for three years and during the siege, Shalmaneser V died. He was replaced by Sargon II, as emperor of the Assyrian empire, who was able to conquer Samaria 722 BC, looted and destroyed the city and deported 27,290 its citizens in exile followed by the twelve tribes of Israel (known as the Ten Lost Tribes). Twenty years later, Sennacherib son and successor of Sargon II, invaded Judea In 701 BC, and deported 200,000 Israelites in exile (2 Kings 18:12). Previously Sennacherib had deports 208,000 people from Babylon. However, the Aramaeans people had to suffer at the hands of Sargon II, followed by his son Sennacherib (705 – 681 BC) down to the last powerful ruler Ashurbanipal (669–627 BC), when the Assyrian empire reached at its instant end. After death, Ashurbanipal was succeeded by his son Ashur-etil-ilani, who was over thrown by one of his generals Sin-shumu-lishir, who usurped the throne and became emperor of the Assyrian empire and of Babylonia. Subsequently civil war erupted. General Sin-shumu-lishir was deposed by Sin- shar-ishkun, another son of Ashurbanipal, who claimed the emperorship of Assyria; it was not acceptable to his brother Ashur-etil-ilani - the deposed emperor. Now there was a war in both the brothers; According to the chronicle, Ashur-etil-ilani was defeated and killed in battle against Sin-shar-ishkun near Nippur in 623. Such circumstances created chaos, frustration and evolved as a hope for freedom of all the defeated nations; eventually the empire began to disintegrate rapidly. Firstly, Nabopolassar, a Chaldean, army commander of Assyria, in Babylonia declared independence in 620 BC, for over 200 years, Babylon was ruled by the Assyrians. In the meantime, the Medes also freed themselves from Assyrian domination and consolidated power in what was to become Persia. In 616 BC, the Babylonians and Medes, together with the Scythians and Cimmerians, attacked Assyria. After four years of bitter fighting, the coalition finally destroyed and burned Nineveh - capital city of Assyrian empire. Emperor Sinsharishkun lost his life. Thus the Assyrian empire instantly collapsed. A general called Ashur-uballit II, declared himself king of Assyria, with the support of Egypt, seated at Harran. In a final battle at Harran, the Babylonians and Medes defeated Ashur-uballit II, in 608 BC, after which Assyria ceased to exist as an independent nation, only to be ruled in future by the invading alien masters. However, the Assyrians disappeared once for all, after ruling the Ancient East in three phases, for about 955 years: The Old Assyrian Empire lasted about 340 years, from 2000 BC to 1759 BC; it was occupied by Hammurabi - emperor of the Babylonian empire. The Middle Assyrian Empire, for about 315 years, beginning with the rise of Ashur-uballit in around 1360 BC, down to Tiglath-Pileser I in around 1047 BC. The Neo-Assyrian Empire lasted from 934 BC and ended in 612 BC, with the fall of Ninevah. The empire lasted roughly 330 years. During the entire Assyrian period, the Akkadian was maintained as its official language; after the rise of the Neo Assyrian Empire, Aramaic also achieved official status together with the Akkadian language. However, after the fall Ninevah, within 73 years, the conquerors of the Assyrian empire were defeated and enslaved by Cyrus the Great in 539 BC. He raised from a tiny kingdom of Anshan (in modern Iran), and by way of conquest, established the largest empire the world had yet seen, encompassed approximately 8 million kilo meters, and spanned three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe, known as Achaemenid Empire. Initially, he conquered all the states of the ancient Near East, including the Median Empire, the Lydian Empire, the Neo-Babylonian Empire and then he moved further, conquered most of Southwest Asia, much of Central Asia and parts of Europe. His son Cambyses defeated the Egyptian forces in the eastern Nile Delta, and occupied Egypt in 525 BC. In modern terms, the Achaemenid Empire of the Persians, at its height, ruled the following conquered territories: the present-day Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Macedonia, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, many parts of Greece, Libya and northern Saudi Arabia. Following the conquest of Babylonia and Assyria, the Aramaic language, and then lingua franca of the Middle East was adopted by the Achaemenid emperors as "official language" together with the Akkadian. The Elamite language was also declared as the language of the chancellery, used in the capital city Susa for official inscriptions of the kings, as well as administrative records. It was written in the Cuneiform script. After about a century, during the days of Artaxerxes I (465–424 BCE), Elamite ceased to be the language of government, and Aramaic gained more importance. Under Artaxerxes I, Zoroastrianism became the de-facto religion of the empire. During Artaxerxes II (404–358 BCE), who reigned for the longest period of 45 years, Zoroastrianism was disseminated throughout Asia Minor and the Levant, from Armenia. The Achaemenid empire survived for about 220 years (550 – 330 BC) and was lost in the gambling of conquest, under a new player, Alexander, 22 years young king of Macedonia. He started his campaign with 13,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry against over half a million Persian soldiers. He ultimately broke the power of Persians in a series of decisive battles, most notably the battles of Issus and Gaugamela. Subsequently, Alexander overthrew the last Persian emperor Darius III and occupied the entire Achaemenid empire within ten years and looted its entire wealth, which was shifted to Macedonia. From a single city of Susa 1,180 tons of gold was looted. However, during this gambling, all the territory under Achaemenid empire became battle ground; tens of thousands of Persian soldiers lost their lives, many cities were burned and raised to ground; hundreds of thousands of the common people were killed; their young men and women were sold into slavery. While moving towards the Indus Valley and invading Punjab (present-day Pakistan) in 326 BC, Alexander was severally wounded in an attack by Malli - one of the most warlike tribes of Punjab. An arrow pierced his breastplate and his ribcage. Then, Alexander turned back with his forces to Susa, Iran. While crossing Gerdosian desert, thousands of his soldiers died of heat and exhaustion. In the process of conquest, Alexander could not get chance to go back to his home kingdom Mecedonia, where the entire looted wealth of the Achaemenid empire was stocked for him. He suddenly died in Babylon at the age of 33, during June 323 BC. Even he was not buried in his native land - Macedonia, of whom he was king; instead his body was shifted to Egypt, where he was finally buried in Alexandria - a new Greek settlement. His son Alexander IV, his first wife Roxane, half-brother Philip III, his mother Olympias, all were killed, together with those who could be claimant to the throne. Even Herakles, another son of Alexander from his Persian mistress Barsine was strangled to death. His mother was also murdered. However, the entire Achaemenid empire gained in the gambling of conquest by Alexander the Great was eventually usurped by his generals; even they occupied his home kingdom Macedonia. To occupy the vast territories conquered by Alexander, most of his generals fought bloody wars for power; they murdered each other and eventually Seleucus I became ruler of the Asian territory, Ptolemy occupied Egypt, Lysimachus received Thrace, and Cassander became ruler of Macedonia and Greece. Thrace and Greece in 338 BC, were conquered by Philip I (382 – 336 BC), king of Macedon - father of Alexander the Great, who was also stabbed to death; a guard plunged a spear into his chest. General Seleucus I established his own dynasty and Seleucid Empire over most of the Asian territories of the former Achaemenid empire: Mesopotamia, Armenia, 'Seleucid' Cappadocia, Persis, Parthia, Bactria, Arabia, Tapouria, Sogdia, Arachosia, Hyrcania, and other areas down to the river Indus. The boundaries of his empire were the most extensive in Asia after that of Alexander. In India Seleucus was defeated by Chandragupta Maurya, emperor of Bharatvarsha (India); subsequently he had to surrender the Indus Valley, Hindu Kush, modern day Afghanistan, and the Balochistan, now province of Pakistan. Later, much of the eastern parts of the empire were conquered by the Parthians under Mithridates I (r.c 171 BC - 138 BC): Herat (in 167 BC), Babylonia (in 144 BC), Media (in 141 BC) and Persia (in 139 BC). During war in Persia, Mithridates I also captured the Seleucid King Demetrius II, in 139 BC, and held him captive for 10 years. During the Seleucid period, the Asian defeated people were forced to adopt Hellenized philosophic thought, Greek religion and culture. However, the core of Hellenistic culture was essentially Athenian. To erase the great past of the Asian peoples - founder of many civilizations, more or less all their settlements, cities, towns and villages were disbanded and the populations enblock were forcibly shifted to hundreds of new cities, towns and villages, constructed on the Greek polis-model town planning, with gymnasiums, amphitheatres, centered with the temples of Greek gods and goddesses. The education system was converted on Greek ideals. There was no other way, for the Asian people just to forget and abandon their own religious faith, as there were no temples of their own gods and goddesses for worship in the new cities. To speed up the process of Hellenization, the emperor Antiochus IV (175 - 164 BC), made a horrible example - as a warning to the Asian defeated people. He outlawed Judaism and the Jews were ordered to worship Zeus as the supreme god; when they refused, Antiochus attacked and destroyed Jerusalem, ordered slaughter of its citizens; all young, old, men, women and children were massacred without mercy; many were thrown down from the top of the city wall. The massacres continued for three days, around eighty thousand were butchered and the same number was sold into slavery. Finally the Jewish temple was looted and converted to the temple of Zues. A large population was brought from Macedonia and Greece and settled in the new Asian cities to form dominant elite; they were allotted lands and offered important posts in the administration and army. Though the army was headed by the Macedonians and Greeks, but the troops from Persia and Babylonia were incorporated to form the cataphracts and the heavy cavalry. During the Seleucid period, the Greek language (Attic-based "koine" dialect) was made the official language of the empire and all the other Asian languages, including Akkadian and Aramaic were fully discouraged. As a result, with the passage of time, the oldest Akkadian language lost its importance, but the Aramaic remained alive as the most dominating regional language. Greeks had called Aramaic by a word they coined, 'Syriac', although it has always been known by its own name, 'Lishana Aramaya' (the Aramaic language). During the Seleucid period, various dialects of Aramaic also began to form, due to regional influences of pronunciation and vocabulary. At the other side, Aramaic became an instrumental in transmitting Greek philosophy, culture and religion to the defeated nations. Due to the forceful imposition of the Koine Greek, it abruptly spread throughout the empire, becoming the lingua franca of Hellenistic lands down to Egypt and eventually the ancestor of modern Greek. Seleucid Empire survived for about 250 years(312 - 63 BC); during this period, Koine Greek language, Greek culture and the Greek religion, together with its gods and goddesses, headed by Zues achieved universal status. In the meantime, situation turned around when a village of Rome was transformed into a World Power, by way of conquest. The villagers of Rome, established Senate in 753 BC, they became its permanent members - initially 100; they eventually evolved a new system of governance by discarding kingship, hired the services of the fighters and mercenaries exclusively to conduct the business of conquest. To handle the affairs of conquest, some suitable person was employed initially as a king (rex), later designated as consul and tribune - all fully answerable to the Roman Senate - a final authority. When the king, consul or tribune died, that sovereign power immediately reverted back to the Senate. For some unavoidable circumstances, such employees or share holders in the loot were given dictatorial powers, but no one was allowed to supersede the Senate or to claim kingship. By law, such claimant could be instantly killed by the members of the Senate (called Patricians), without trial. However, by adopting profession of conquest, the rulers of the city state of Rome eventually conquered central and southern Italy in 304 BC; they decisively defeated Etruscans - their former masters and the most powerful nation in 264 BC; they were the Etruscans who brought first civilization over the Italic Peninsula and ruled its vast territory for many centuries. In 241 BC, Sicily becomes the first Roman province, followed by Sardinia and Corsica in 238 BC. In 146 BC, Romans defeated Carthage - a civilization and a Republic, one of the longest-lived and largest states in the ancient Mediterranean, based in North Africa, centered at the modern Tunis, in Tunisia. They had established around 300 colonies in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Iberia, and Libya. In Europe, they controlled Cyprus, Sardinia, Corsica, and the Balearic Islands and had established colonies on the Iberian Peninsula, as well as some possessions in Crete and Sicily. Nearly all of the Carthaginian dependencies fell into Roman hands. After the fall of Carthage, the walls of the city were torn down, the city was set ablaze; a population of 250,000 reduced to 50,000. The Romans went from house to house, capturing, raping and enslaving the people; fifty thousand Carthaginians, who survived were sold into slavery. The city burned for seventeen days, after which the ground was cleared and ploughed; salt was scattered in the furrows. Subsequently Carthage disappeared after a long survival of about seven centuries; it was established in 813 BC. After the fall of Carthage, within two years (in 148 BC), the Romans conquered Macedonia - mother-land of Alexander the Great - conqueror of the World. Again after one year, in 147 BC, the Romans occupied Greece - then colony of Macedonia. This is worth mentioning here that both the countries Macedonia and Greece - remained enslaved for the coming two thousand years. This was the price; they paid for their gambling of conquest - slavery of two thousand years. The Romans kept on moving ahead; by 64 BC, they conquered Syria - the last remaining portion of the Seleucid Empire. Subsequently Seleucid Empire disappeared. In 30 BC, the Romans occupied Egypt, thereby ending the Ptolemy's family rule (descendants of Ptolemy I - one of the generals of Alexander the Great) after a long period of over 300 years. However, the Romans established one of the greatest empires of the world, stretched over the three continents: Europe, Asia and North Africa, all controlled by the city of Rome. To control, such a huge empire, the Romans made crucifixion as their main weapon; the defeated people were frequently crucified even for whispering. Crucifixion was usually intended to provide a prolonged, agonizing death, usually carried after multiple tortures before the large public gatherings. The condemned persons were tied or nailed to a wooden cross and left to hang until dead; often legs of the victim were broken to hasten death through severe traumatic shock. The dead body was left on cross to prevent its burial, to be consumed by the vultures and other birds. It was considered as warnings to others. Some time, during crucifixion, the private parts of the victims were impaled. The Romans were pagan by faith and introduced many gods and goddesses headed by Jupiter. They usurped the entire pantheon of the Greeks and it was made to believe that all the authorities and attributes of the Greek gods and goddesses had been shifted to the Roman gods. Subsequently, Jupiter became more superior to Zues - the greatest god of the defeated Greeks. The Romans imposed Latin, the language of the city of Rome, as the official language of their empire; since Koine Greek language had achieved the status of lingo franca of the Middle East and the Mediterranean world during the Seleucid and Ptolemic periods, therefore it was also kept as the official language of the Easteren part of the Roman Empire together with Latin, as the language of law, administration. At this juncture, Aramaic still served as the most powerful regional language all over the Middle East. In around 33 AD, Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC to 30–33 AD), commonly referred to as Jesus Christ was crucified by the Romans, during the governorship of Pontius Pilate of Judaea (r. AD 26-36) at an estimated date Friday, April 3, 33 AD. After the crucifixion of Jesus, continuously for over three centuries, Romans never agreed to recognize Christianity as a legal religion of the Roman empire. Any one, professing Christianity was liable for death sentence; all the Churches constructed during this long period were confiscated. The Romans strictly followed the pagan faiths and ordained the Christians to follow the Pagan religions of the empire. However, after a great revolt and sacrifice by innumerable Christians, the Edict of Toleration was issued on April 30, 311 by Galerius, the Roman emperor of the Eastern part (AD 305 to 311). He agreed to end persecution of Christianity with the following wordings: "wherefore, for this our indulgence, they ought to pray to their God for our safety, for that of the republic, and for their own, that the republic may continue uninjured on every side, and that they may be able to live securely in their homes." Two years later, Christianity was officially legalized in the Roman Empire during 313 by Emperor Constantine the Great (AD 306 - 337) through Edict of Milan. It is said that at his death bed Constantine by baptized; eventually he became Christian. After his death on 22 May 337, Constantine was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostleshis, in Constantinople. His empire was divided into three of his sons: Constantine II (337 to 340), Constantius II (337 - 361) and Constans (337 to 350) - all staunch Christians. Within few decades, circumstances were created in such a way that the entire nations under the Romans bondage became Christians. In the meantime, the followers of Paganism resisted at the pain of death; ultimately they surrendered and their worship places were destroyed. As a result, the Christianity emerged as the major religion of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. After a gap of around three hundred years, the Arabs based at Mecca and Madina of present-day Saudi Arabia conquered most of the areas under the Eastern Roman Empire (also called Byzantines) in Middle East, during the 7th century AD. They moved further and established one the greatest empires (Caliphates) spread over more than thirteen million square kilometers (five million square miles). It covered most of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia down to the borders of China, parts of the Indian subcontinent, across the Sicily, the Iberian Peninsula, to the Pyrenees. They brought with them Islam and the Arabic language. The Christianized Middle East was transformed into a Muslim world. Arabic was imposed over the defeated nations with full force. Egypt, then staunch Christian state was instantly converted to Islam; Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (AD 646–705) decreed that Arabic replace Koine Greek, as the sole official language of Egypt. Subsequently the Egyptians had to surrender their own Coptic and Demotic languages - both their mother tongues and languages of literature and religion. It is worth mentioning here that the Koine Greek, official language of the Ptolemaic Egypt, could not replace Demotic and Coptic entirely. But, Arabic was forced in such a way, that the Egyptians, by speaking Arabic, artificially emerged as Arabs; although they are not Arabs. The entire Christianized North Africa was transformed into Muslim Africa; Arabic was imposed in such a force, that the North African people of the present-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, by adopting Arabic, artificially emerged as Arabs; although they are not Arabs. In Middle East, the Christianized Babylonia (modern-day Iraq and Syria) was also transformed into Muslim belt in AD 637; their main language Aramaic as well as Greek - official language of the Romans, both were replaced by Arabic. However, in due course, by speaking Arabic, the people of Iraq and Syria emerged artificially as Arabs; otherwise they are not Arabs. They were Sumerians, Akkadians or the Babylonians; even they lost their original national identity. However, it was the beginning of the fall of the Aramaic language, as all its areas were encroached by the Arabic - language of the new conquerors. Ultimately, with the passage of time, Aramaic disappeared as a living language; it is a World of Conquerors; Aramaic - lingo franca of the Middle East, official language of the three greatest empires of the world: Assyrian, Neo Babylonian and the Achaemenid Empire had to fall; historically the people inhabiting this globe are bound to follow the religious faiths, languages and cultures of the conquerors. Even they are the source of our identity and nationality. Today, Aramaic can be found in certain Eastern Christian churches, in the form of Syriac; it is still spoken by small isolated communities throughout its original area of influence, predominantly in northwest Iraq, northeast Syria, northern Iran, southeast Turkey, Israel and Lebanon. Fall Of Australian Aborignal Languages To recover the loss of thirteen colonies (emerged as the United States of America), the British mercenaries, on behalf of the British monarchs, landed in the Australian continent, the Indian sub-continent as well as in the mainland China. By 1857, the East India Company, on behalf of the British monarchs occupied most of the Indian sub-continent. They also penetrated deep into the mainland China and occupied its fifteen sea ports. For Australia, it is recorded that, Willem Janszoon, a Dutch navigator, employ of the Dutch East India Company was the first European who is known to have seen the “western coast of Australia”. He saw and conquered the territory with his evil eyes; subsequently the Dutch Company named the area “New Holland.” Similarly James Cook, another navigator of England was the first European who could see the eastern coast of Australia in 1770; so he also saw and conquered eastern Australia with his wicked eyes, named the territory as “New South Wales” and claimed it for the King George III of England. During his voyage, Cook also visited New Zealand, first seen by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642. However, Cook also claimed the North and South islands for the British monarch. Initially, the British monarchs decided to use the territory of Australia as a “prison regime” or open jail, penal colony or the dumping ground for the convicts. Subsequently the first British Penal colony was established on 26 January 1788, at Sydney Cove (in honor of Viscount Sydney, home secretary of England) by Captain Arthur Phillip, who was designated as the first governor of eastern Australia. He brought with him 778 convicts (192 women and 586 men) from England loaded in 11 vessels, known as the First Fleet. The Second Fleet, also known as ‘Death Fleet’ carrying convicts arrived here during 1790. The process continued, as a result some 161,700 convicts and hardened criminals, including around 25,000 women were transported from the midlands and north of England to Australia, in between 1788 and 1868. In the mean time, the British mercenaries created many separate colonies and settlements from parts of New South Wales: South Australia in 1836, New Zealand in 1840, Port Phillip District in 1834 (later becoming the colony of Victoria in 1851) and Queensland in 1859. The Northern Territory was founded in 1863 as part of South Australia. As a result, the New South Wales became the largest colony on the surface of the earth. For the systematic colonization of New Zealand, a separate company named “New Zealand Company” was established during 1839 in London. Subsequently the company established many settlements including Wellington, Nelson, New Plymouth and Wanganui. The Australian continent (included the current islands of New Zealand) was originally inhabited by over 250 Native Nations and tribes, each had its own language and a few had multiple, thus over 250 languages existed. After its colonization, 90 per cent population of the Aborigines lost their lives within few decades while defending their motherland; they were tortured, displaced, driven out of their homes, terrorized, killed, poisoned and massacred. After massacre, dead bodies were burnt to ashes so as to conceal the number of casualties. The epidemic diseases, brought by the British migrants also played havoc with millions of lives. To occupy the Australian lands for British migrants, the Aboriginal peoples were forcibly removed from their settlements; to demoralize the indigenous nations, their women were freely raped; martial laws were imposed; general massacres were made a regular practice to eliminate instantly the entire nations of the Aboriginals. Some examples are as follows: In 1824, martial law was declared around Bathurst, New South Wales, to wipe out the Aboriginal people. In between 1828 – 1832 again martial law was imposed by the British agents for the genocide of the Tasmanian Aborigines. In May 1830, the first official 'punishment raid' on Aboriginal people in Western Australia took place; men, women and children were mercilessly massacred. During 1833 – 34 “Convincing Ground Massacre” was one of the largest massacres in Victoria. On January 26, 1838, “Waterloo Creek Massacre” was carried against the Kamilaroi people. The “Faithful Massacre” and the “Hunting Ground Killings” were carried out to bring the lands under British rule. In 1838, “Myall Creek Massacre” was carried against the Aboriginals living around Inverell (Northern Tablelands). During the “Murdering Gully Massacre” Tarnbeere Gundidj clan of the Djargurd Wurrung people were wiped out in 1839. Again on March 8, 1840, following the “Whyte Brothers Massacre”- men, women and children of Jardwadjali tribe were killed. During the “Massacre of the Yeeman” carried on October 26, 1857 so as to exterminate the Yeeman tribe; many of the killings were carried out in public. To revenge the murder of two policemen, “Flying Foam Massacre” was carried during 1868 to wipe out Yaburara people. Again for the killing of two white men, “Barrow Creek Massacre” was carried against Kaytetye people during 1874. They were hunted and killed through large police parties. In 1876, a group of Aboriginals refused to vacate their homes from the Central Queensland areas for the settlements of the European migrants. Subsequently “Goulbolba Hill Massacre” was carried; most of the men, women and children were shot dead or forcibly herded into the nearby lake for drowning. During 1880 – 90, several massacres were carried out in Arnhem Land Region (Northern Territory). In these areas, many people were poisoned to death. To avenge the murder of one person, over 200 Kalkadoon natives were killed during 1884. In the areas of Djara, Konejandi and Walmadjari Aboriginal people were massacred during 1887. Again in the Kimberley Region, about half of the Kimberley Aboriginal people were decimated during 1890 -1920. An unrecorded number of the Mardu Aboriginals were surrounded, tortured and ultimately massacred at Canning Stock Route (Western Australia) during 1906-7; their women were beaten and raped. During the Gippaland massacre, unknown number of the Aboriginal people of East Gippsland and Victoria were killed, following a rapid decline in Aboriginal numbers. Henry Meyrick, one of the British officials, wrote in a letter home to his relatives in England in 1846: “The blacks (Aborigines) are very quiet here now, poor wretches. No wild beast of the forest was ever hunted down with such unsparing perseverance as they are. Men, women and children are shot whenever they can be met with … I have protested against it at every station I have been in Gippsland, in the strongest language, but these things are kept very secret as the penalty would certainly be hanging … For myself, if I caught a black actually killing my sheep, I would shoot him with as little remorse as I would a wild dog, but no consideration on earth would induce me to ride into a camp and fire on them indiscriminately, as is the custom whenever the smoke is seen. They [the Aborigines] will very shortly be extinct.” This is how the 90 per cent population of the Aboriginals disappeared from the Australian continent; no doubt, the epidemic diseases brought by the British and the other European migrants also played a major role in the genocide of the indigenous people of Australia. However, as long as the armed men are available for the purpose of conquests and they are allowed to kill, massacre and enslave the nations, destroy their settlements, loot their wealth and resources for centuries together, kidnap and rape freely their women folk, the history would go on repeating itself and we would again witness the fall of many nations along with their mother tongues.