with honours by the Assyrian king; his son, who took an Assyrian name,
was made satrap of Athribis, near the modern Benha, and the satraps of
the Delta henceforward remained faithful to their Assyrian master. But
another Ethiopian prince, Tuant-Amon, made a last attempt to recover the
dominion of his fathers. Thebes received him with acclamation, and
Memphis was taken without difficulty. There the satrap of Goshen came to
pay him homage on behalf of his brother-governors in the north.

His triumph, however, was short-lived. Assur-bani-pal determined to
inflict a terrible punishment on the rebel country, and to reduce it to
subjection once for all. Thebes had been the centre of disaffection; its
priesthood looked with impatience on the rule of the Asiatic, and were
connected by religion and tradition with Ethiopia; on Thebes and its
priesthood, therefore, the punishment had to fall. The Ethiopian army
retreated to Nubia without striking a blow, and Egypt was left
defenceless at the mercy of the Assyrian. The Assyrian army entered
Thebes, the No or "City" of Amon, bent on the work of destruction. Its
temple-strongholds were plundered and overthrown, its inhabitants
carried into slavery, and two obelisks, seventy tons in weight, were
sent as trophies to Nineveh. The sack of Thebes made a deep impression
on the Oriental world; we find it referred to in the prophecies of Nahum
(iii. 8).

Egypt now enjoyed peace, but it was the peace of exhaustion and
powerlessness. Psammetikhos had succeeded his father Necho, who had been
put to death by Tuant-Amon. He was a man of vigour and ability, and he
aimed at nothing less than sovereignty over an united and independent
Egypt. His opportunity came in B.C. 655. The Assyrian empire was shaken
to its foundations by a revolt of which Babylonia was the centre and
which had spread to its other provinces. For a time it was called on to