Institute, Jan. 20, 1896, have shown that the true reading
is Eri-Aku. The Elamite name Eri-Aku, "servant of the moon-
god," was changed by some of his subjects into the
Babylonian Rim-Sin, "Have mercy, O Moon-god!" just as
Abêsukh, the Hebrew Absihu'a ("the father of welfare") was
transformed into the Babylonian Ebisum ("the actor").--Ed.]


It was not the first time that Elam had audaciously interfered in
the affairs of her neighbours. In fabulous times, one of her mythical
kings--Khumbaba the Ferocious--had oppressed. Uruk, and Gilgames with
all his valour was barely able to deliver the town. Sargon the Elder is
credited with having subdued Elam; the kings and vicegerents of Lagash,
as well as those of Uru and. Larsam, had measured forces with Anshan,
but with no decisive issue. From time to time they obtained an
advantage, and we find recorded in the annals victories gained by Gudea,
Inê-sin, or Bursin, but to be followed only by fresh reverses; at the
close of such campaigns, and in order to seal the ensuing peace, à
princess of Susa would be sent as a bride to one of the Chaldæan cities,
or a Chaldæan lady of royal birth would enter the harem of a king of
Anshân. Elam was protected along the course of the Tigris and on the
shores of the Nâr-Marratum by a wide marshy region, impassable except
at a few fixed and easily defended places. The alluvial plain extending
behind the marshes was as rich and fertile as that of Chaldæa. Wheat and
barley ordinarily yielded an hundred and at times two hundredfold; the
towns were surrounded by a shadeless belt of palms; the almond, fig,
acacia, poplar, and willow extended in narrow belts along the rivers'
edge. The climate closely resembles that of Chaldaja: if the midday heat
in summer is more pitiless, it is at least tempered by more frequent
east winds. The ground, however, soon begins to rise, ascending