** Assur-nazir-pal, in going from Kirruri to Kirkhi in the basin of the Tigris, could go either by the pass of Bitlis or that of Sassun; that of Bitlis is excluded by the fact that it lies in Kirruri, and Kirruri is not mentioned in what follows.  But if the route chosen was by the pass of Sassun, Khulun necessarily must have occupied a position at the entrance of the defiles, perhaps that of the present town of Khorukh.  The name Khatu recalls that of the Khoith tribe which the Armenian historians mention as in this locality.  Khaturu is perhaps Hatera in the caza of Lidjo, in the sandjak of Diarbekir, and Arzania the ancient Arzan, Arzn, the ruins of which may be seen near Sheikh-Yunus.  Tila-Tela is not the same town as the Tela in Mesopotamia, which we shall have occasion to speak of later, but is probably to be identified with Til or Tilleh, at the confluence of the Tigris and the Bohtan-tcha.  Finally, it is possible that the name Khalua may be preserved in that of Halewi, which Layard gives as belonging to a village situated almost halfway between Rundvan and Til.

*** Nishtun was probably the most important spot in this region:  from its position on the list, between Khulun and Khataru on one side and Arzania on the other, it is evident we must look for it somewhere in Sassun or in the direction of Mayafarrikin.

[Illustration:  021.jpg THE CAMPAIGNS OF ASSUR-NAZIR-PAL IN NAIRI]

In a small town near one of the sources of the Tigris, Assur-nazir-pal founded a colony on which he imposed his name; he left there a statue of himself, with an inscription celebrating his exploits carved on its base, and having done this, he returned to Nineveh laden with booty.

[Illustration:  022.jpg THE SITE OF SHADIKANNI AT ARBAN, ON THE KHABUR]

     Drawn by Boudier, from a sketch taken by Layard.

A few weeks had sufficed for him to complete, on this side, the work bequeathed to him by his father, and to open up the neighbourhood of the northeast provinces; he was not long in setting out afresh, this time to the north-west, in the direction of the Taurus.*

* The text of the “Annals” declares that these events took place “in this same limmu,” in what the king calls higher up in the column “the beginning of my royalty, the first year of my reign.”  We must therefore suppose that he ascended the throne almost at the beginning of the year, since he was able to make two campaigns under the same eponym.

He rapidly skirted the left bank of the Tigris, burned some score of scattered hamlets at the foot of Nipur and Pazatu,* crossed to the right bank, above Amidi, and, as he approached the Euphrates, received the voluntary homage of Kummukh and the Mushku.** But while he was complacently engaged in recording the amount of vessels of bronze, oxen, sheep, and jars of wine which represented their tribute, a messenger of bad tidings appeared before him.  Assyria was bounded on the east by a line of small states, comprising the Katna*** and the Bit-Khalupi,**** whose towns, placed alternately like sentries on each side the Khabur, protected her from the incursions of the Bedawin.