king, Tukulti-ninip II., who did not live long to enjoy his triumph. His
son, Assur-nazir-pal, inherited a kingdom which embraced scarcely any of
the countries that had paid tribute to former sovereign, for most of
these had gradually regained their liberty.

Nearly the whole empire had to be re-conquered under much the same
conditions as in the first instance, but Assyria had recovered the
vitality and elasticity of its earlier days. Its army now possessed a
new element. This was the cavalry, properly so called, as an adjunct to
the chariotry. But it must be remembered that the strength and
discipline which the Assyrian troops possessed in such high degree were
common to the military forces of all the great states--Elam, Damascus,
Nairi, the Hittites and Chaldea. Thus, the armies of all these states
being, as a rule, both in strength and numbers much on a par, no single
power was able to inflict on any of the rest such a defeat as would be
its destruction. Twice at least in three centuries a king of Assyria had
entered Babylon, and twice the Babylonians had forced the intruder back.

Profiting by the past, Assur-nazir-pal resolutely avoided those
conflicts in which so many of his predecessors had wasted their lives.
He was content to devote his attention to less dangerous enemies than
the people of Babylonia. Invading Nummi, he quickly captured its chief
cities, then subdued the Kirruri, attacked the fortress of Nishtu, and
pillaged many of the cities around. Bubu, the Chief of Nishtu, was
flayed alive. After a reign of twenty-five years he died in 860 B.C.

A summary of the events in the reign of thirty-five years of his
successor, Shalmaneser III., is contained on the Black Obelisk of
Nimroud, discovered by Layard and preserved in the British Museum. He
conquered the whole country round Lake Van, ravaging the country "as a