** Me-Turnat, Me-Turni, “the water of the Turnat,” stood upon the Diyalah, probably near the site of Bakuba, where the most frequented route crosses the river; perhaps we may identify it with the Artemita of classical authors.  Gananate must be sought higher up near the mountains, as the context points out; I am inclined to place it near the site of Khanekin, whose gardens are still celebrated, and the strategic importance of which is considerable.

Marduk-belusate, “a vacillating king, incapable of directing his own affairs,” came out to meet him, but although repulsed and driven within the town, he defended his position with such spirit that Shalmaneser was at length obliged to draw off his troops after having cut down all the young compelled the fruit trees, disorganised the whole system of irrigation,—­in short, after having effected all the damage he could.  He returned in the following spring by the most direct route; Lakhiru fell into his hands,* but Marduk-belusate, having no heart to contend with him for the possession of a district ravaged by the struggle of the preceding summer, fell back on the mountains of Yasubi and concentrated his forces round Arman.**

* Lakhiru comes before Gananate on the direct road from Assyria, to the south of the Lower Zab, as we learn from the account of the campaign itself:  wo shall not do wrong in placing this town either at Kifri, or in its neighbourhood on the present caravan route.

     ** Mount Yasubi is the mountainous district which separates
     Khanekin from Holwan.

Shalmaneser, having first wreaked his vengeance upon Gananate, attacked his adversary in his self-chosen position; Annan fell after a desperate defence, and Marduk-belusate either perished or disappeared in a last attempt at retaliation.  Marduk-nadin-shumu, although rid of his rival, was not yet master of the entire kingdom.  The Aramaeans of the Marshes, or, as they called themselves, the Kalda, had refused him their allegiance, and were ravaging the regions of the Lower Euphrates by their repeated incursions.  They constituted not so much a compact state, as a confederation of little states, alternately involved in petty internecine quarrels, or temporarily reconciled under the precarious authority of a sole monarch.  Each separate state bore the name of the head of the family—­real or mythical—­from whom all its members prided themselves on being descended,—­Bit-Dakkuri, Bit-Adini, Bit-Amukkani, Bit-Shalani, Bit-Shalli, and finally Bit-Yakin, which in the end asserted its predominance over all the rest.*