In the latest issue of al-Muntada Mr. H. Hannona published an article trying to justify the presense of ancient Chaldeans in Assyria and link them to present day religious sect Chaldeans (Catholic Assyrians). His argument focuses on the so-called deportation of the ancient Chaldeans to Nineveh by the kings of the Neo-Assyrian dynasty. Mr. Hannona and few others had argued this point based on the claims that something between (200,000) and (400,000) ancient Chaldeans were deported to Assyria by Assyrian kings during the 8th and 7th centuries BC, which should then justify the presence of the Chaldeans in Nineveh today! If this is true and since the ancient Chaldeans, as history tells us, in 626 BC captured and ruled Babylon, there should have been then more Chaldeans in the south to be able to capture Babylon. Therefore, and in reality, those presenting this theory are telling us that the population of the ancient Chaldeans was at least half a million if not more! Half a million or more Chaldeans during the 7th century BC! It is impossible. It is a well-established fact that the entire population of the mighty Babylon, which ruled most of the Near East, was (200,000). This figure, which included of course all the various peoples of Babylon, was proven by very highly technical, aerial, and scientific studies undertaken more recently. H.W.F. Saggs in "Everyday Life in Babylonia and Assyria attests to this fact, he says: The total population of Babylon at the time of Nebuchadnezzar has been estimated to have been up to (200,000). This estimate is based on measurements made for the city area and figuring out how many people could have lived within its walls. Something does not add up here, should we believe scientists and historians and their figures about Babylon or those few wishful thinkers who claim the so-called deportation figures. I wonder whom should we believe! In II Samuel 10:18 we read: And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of (700) chariots of the Syrians, and (40,000) horsemen, and smote Shbch the captain of their host, who died there. Yet in I Chronicles 19:18 we read about the same account the following: But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians (7,000) men which fought in chariots, and (40,000) footmen, and killed Shphch the captain of the host. A (700) became (7,000) just like that!! How about that for a controversy! Do we really want to mess around with figures mentioned in the ancient days? Historians tell us that there is no doubt that all the figures relating to war in the days of antiquity were exaggerated. It has been proven that kings in the ancient days did so to achieve the status of greatness by claiming higher figures than the actual to have been killed or taken prisoners. James Wellard in Babylon tells us that such numbers were, of course, impossible to assess. He adds the claim of Sennacherib that he captured (200,000) men in one battle need not be taken literally but rather as an exaggeration typical of a press hand-out in wartime. Sennacheribs capture of Babylon lists the following prize of his victory: (208,000) men and women prisoners; (11,073) asses; etc., an interesting feature of the list is the precise enumeration of the animals(11,073 asses), and the round figures for the body count of the humans. Assyrian kings, for a matter of fact, took as prisoners, whenever alive of course, the defeated king, the royal family, high ranking officers, noted people within the defeated kingdom, it was never like deporting the entire population. This does not mean that the Assyrian Kings were lying in their records, it is just the fact that they exaggerated when it came to figures or how cruel they were to make others fear them and avoid rebellion against the empire. Therefore, such deportation argument has no merit.
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