inheritance which the Egyptians were letting slip. Coeval with the
decline of the power of the latter was that of the Hittites.

The Babylonian Empire likewise degenerated under the Cossæan kings, and
gave way to the ascendancy of Assyria, which came to regard Babylon with
deadly hatred. The capitals of the two countries were not more than 185
miles apart. The line of demarcation followed one of the many canals
between the Tigris and Euphrates. It then crossed the Tigris and was
formed by one of the rivers draining the Iranian table-land--the Upper
Zab, the Radanu, or the Turnat. Each of the two states strove by every
means in its power to stretch its boundary to the farthest limits, and
the narrow area was the scene of continual war.

Assyria was but a poor and insignificant country when compared with that
of her rival. She occupied, on each side of the middle course of the
Tigris, the territory lying between the 35th and 37th parallels of
latitude. This was a compact and healthy district, well watered by the
streams running from the Iranian plateau, which were regulated by a
network of canals and ditches for irrigation of the whole region. The
provinces thus supplied with water enjoyed a fertility which passed into
a proverb. Thus Assyria was favoured by nature, but she was not well
wooded. The most important of the cities were Assur, Arbeles, Kalakh and
Nineveh.

Assur, dedicated to the deity from which it took its name, placed on the
very edge of the Mesopotamian desert, with the Tigris behind it, was,
during the struggle with the Chaldæan power, exposed to the attacks of
the Babylonian armies; while Nineveh, entrenched behind the Tigris and
the Zab, was secure from any sudden assault. Thus it became the custom
for the kings to pass at Nineveh the trying months of the year, though