linen manufacture, and possessed large shipping.

Khammurabi's long reign of fifty-five years has hitherto yielded us but
a small number of monuments--seals, heads of sceptres, alabaster vases,
and pompous inscriptions, scarcely any of them being of historical
interest. He was famous for the number of his campaigns, no details of
which, however, have come to light, but the dedication of one of his
statues celebrates his good fortune on the battlefield. "Bel has lent
thee sovereign majesty: thou, what awaitest thou?--Sin has lent thee
royalty: thou, what awaitest thou?--Ninip has lent thee his supreme
weapon: thou, what awaitest thou?--The goddess of light, Ishtar,
has lent thee the shock of arms and the fray: thou, what awaitest
thou?--Shamash and Bamman are thy varlets: thou, what awaitest thou?--It
is Khammurabi, the king, the powerful chieftain--who cuts the enemies
in pieces,--the whirlwind of battle--who overthrows the country of the
rebels--who stays combats, who crushes rebellions,--who destroys
the stubborn like images of clay,--who overcomes the obstacles of
inaccessible mountains." The majority of these expeditions were, no
doubt, consequent on the victory which destroyed the power of Kimsin.
It would not have sufficed merely to drive back the Elamites beyond the
Tigris; it was necessary to strike a blow within their own territory to
avoid a recurrence of hostilities, which might have endangered the still
recent work of conquest. Here, again, Khammurabi seems to have met with
his habitual success.

[Illustration: 057.jpg HEAD OF A SCEPTRE IN COPPER, BEARING THE NAME OF
KHAM-MURABI]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a rapid sketch made at the
British Museum.