a man of base extraction from Bit-Adini, whom they had proclaimed king.  This defection, if not promptly dealt with, was likely to entail serious consequences, since it left an important point on the frontier exposed:  and there now remained nothing to prevent the people of Adini or their allies from spreading over the country between the Khabur and the Tigris, and even pushing forward their marauding bands as far as the very walls of Singar and Assur.

[Illustration:  024b.jpg NO. 1.  ENAMELED BRICK (NIMROD).  NO. 2.  FRAGMENT OF MURAL PAINTING (NIMROD).]

[Illustration:  025.jpg STELE FROM ARBAN]

     Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard’s sketch

Without losing a moment, Assur-nazir-pal marched down the course of the Khabur, hastily collecting the tribute of the cities through which he passed.  The defenders of Sura were disconcerted by his sudden appearance before their town, and their rulers came out and prostrated themselves at the king’s feet:  “Dost thou desire it? it is life for us;—­dost thou desire it? it is death;—­dost thou desire it? what thy heart chooseth, that do to us!” But the appeal to his clemency was in vain; the alarm had been so great and the danger so pressing, that Assur-nazir-pal was pitiless.  The town was handed over to the soldiery, all the treasure it contained was confiscated, and the women and children of the best families were made slaves; some of the ringleaders paid the penalty of their revolt on the spot; the rest, with Akhiabaha, were carried away and flayed alive, some at Nineveh, some elsewhere.  An Assyrian garrison was installed in the citadel, and an ordinary governor, Azilu by name, replaced the dynasty of native princes.  The report of this terrible retribution induced the Laqi* to tender their submission, and their example was followed by Khaian, king of Khindanu on the Euphrates.  He bought off the Assyrians with gold, silver, lead, precious stones, deep-hued purple, and dromedaries; he erected a statue of Assur-nazir-pal in the centre of his palace as a sign of his vassalage, and built into the wall near the gates of his town an inscription dedicated to the gods of the conqueror.

* The Laqi were situated on both banks of the Euphrates, principally on the right bank, between the Khabur and the Balikh, interspersed among the Sukhi, of whom they were perhaps merely a dissentient fraction.

Six, or at the most eight, months had sufficed to achieve these rapid successes over various foes, in twenty different directions—­the expeditions in Nummi and Kirruri, the occupation of Kummukh, the flying marches across the mountains and plains of Mesopotamia—­during all of which the new sovereign had given ample proof of his genius.  He had, in fine, shown himself to be a thorough soldier, a conqueror of the type of Tiglath-pileser, and Assyria by these victories had recovered her rightful rank among the nations of Western Asia.