5. Siege and Military Engines: nēpešu, μεχαναι, “clever devices”

Among the devices used in the conquest of a city, the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser I, Ashurnasirpal II, and Tiglath-pileser III mention the term nēpešu, which was probably used to refer to battle equipment or machinery. The Synchronistic History relates that King Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon was forced to burn his nēpešu (which he brought with him when he attacked the Assyrian fortress of Zanuqu) in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of his enemy, King Ashur-resh-ishi I of Assyria, who was progressing toward him with his chariots. It follows that these devices were flammable and slow to transport, so they could not be saved in the event of retreat. The term nēpešu is derived from the verb epēšu (“to act, to construct, to manufacture”), meaning “an [engineering] device/machine.”

In Greek and Hellenistic historiography from the latter half of the 5th century BC onward, the term μαχαναι is used as a general term for artillery devices and other engines of war that were used by attackers and defenders of cities alike. Among these, particular importance as given to mobile siege towards, on which were standard archers and various devices for hurling large stones and arrows and form which battering rams were operating to breach the walls.

2 Chron. 26:15 states that King Uzziah of Judah made in Jerusalem “clever devices” (חשבנות מחשבת חושב; lit., “contrivances, the invention of inventive men”), to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones.” The Septuagint translates חשבנות מחשבת חושב by the term μεχαναι, indicating that this Hebrew hapax legomenon was understood as an artillery device. Yadin rejected the opinion that the term חשבנות references to a device shooting arrows and stones, and argued that artillery was invented no earlier than the 4th century BCE and therefore the attribution of sophisticated weapons that hurl large stones to the period of Uzziah (the 8th century BC) is clear anachronistic. On the assumption that the description in the Book of Chronicles is based on authentic historical knowledge of the period of Uzziah, Yadin suggested identifying the term חשבנות with special structures, protected balconies supported by beams constructed in crisscross fashion above the towers on the city walls, which projected outwards and were wider than the towers themselves, allowing slingers and archers to show without being excessively exposed (such structures appear in artistic descriptions form the 8th century BC).

Yadin’s comments on the invention of artillery seem plausible, but my conclusion is different. The semantic similarity between the terms μεχαναι and חשבנות מחשבת חושב, suggests that the Chronicler invented this term to refer, anachronistically, to the artillery devices that were common in his own day (ca. 400 BC), and therefore (clumsily) translated a parallel term that was absent in Hebrew. Moreover, according to 2 Chron. 26:15, the “clever devices” that were built upon the towers and on the corners, were intended “to shoot arrows and great stones” (as opposed to the small “stones for slinging” mentioned in verse 14, that could be thrown by hand). The height of the balconies or projections referred to by Yadin was insufficient to significantly augment the range of the larger stones if they were thrown by hand rather than by a special device. Consequently, Yadin’s interpretation of the phrase does not seem reasonable.

In conclusion, the vague and undefined derivation of the terms used in the three languages suggests that they do not refer to a specific, well-defined weapon, but rather serve as a general term for siege and war engines. The specific meaning changed in accordance with the technique of warfare and its circumstances.