Oriental world at the very beginning of his reign. Sennacherib's
conquest of Ellipi, and the wars against Ararat and Minni, had weakened
the barriers which protected the Assyrian empire from the incursions of
the barbarians of the north. The Gimirrâ or Kimmerians, the Gomer of the
Old Testament, driven by the Scyths from their seats on the Dniester and
the Sea of Azof, suddenly appeared on the horizon of western Asia.
Swarming through the territories of the Minni to the east of Ararat,
they swooped down upon the Assyrian frontier, along with other northern
nations from Media, Sepharad, and Ashchenaz. While a body of Kimmerians
under Teuspa marched westward, the rest of the allies, under Kastarit or
Kyaxares of Karu-Kassi, attacked the fortresses which defended Assyria
on the north-east. At Nineveh all was consternation, and public prayers,
accompanied by fasting, were ordered to be offered up for a hundred days
and nights to the Sun-god, that he might "forgive the sin" of his
people, and avert the dangers that threatened them. The prayers were
heard, and the invaders were driven into Ellipi. Then Esar-haddon
marched against Teuspa, and forced him to turn from Assyria. The
Kimmerians made their way instead into Asia Minor, where they sacked the
Greek and Phrygian cities, and overran Lydia.

The northern and eastern boundaries of the empire were at length
secured. It was now necessary to punish the Arab tribes who had taken
advantage of the Kimmerian invasion to harass the empire on the south.
Esar-haddon accordingly marched into the very heart of the Arabian
desert--a military achievement of the first rank, the memory of which
was not forgotten for years. The empire at last was secure.

The Assyrian king was now free to complete the policy of Tiglath-pileser
by conquering Egypt. Palestine was no longer a source of trouble. Judah
had returned to its vassalage to Assyria, and the abortive attempts of