to the fortress of Ishtarâti, and from thence to Kibaki. The town of
Matiatê, having closed its gates against him, was at once sacked, and
this example so stimulated the loyalty of the Kurkhi chiefs, that
they ha*tened to welcome him at the neighbouring military station of
Zazabukha. The king's progress continued thence as before, broken by
frequent halts at the most favourable points for levying contributions
on the inhabitants.1 Assur-nazir-pal encountered no serious difficulty
except on the northern slopes of the Kashiari, but there again fortune
smiled on him; all the contested positions were soon ceded to him,
including even Madara, whose fourfold circuit of walls did not avail to
save it from the conqueror.** After a brief respite at Tushkhân, he set
out again one evening with his lightest chariots and the pick of his
horsemen, crossed the Tigris on rafts, rode all night, and arrived
unexpectedly the next morning before Pitura, the chief town of the
Dirrabans.*** It was surrounded by a strong double enceinte, through
which he broke after forty-eight hours of continuous assault: 800 of
its men perished in the breach, and 700 others were impaled before the
gates.

* It is difficult to place any of these localities on the
map: they ought all to be found between the ford of the
Tigris, at Diarbeldr and the Euphrates, probably at the foot
of the Mihrab-dagh and the Kirwântchernen-dagh.

** Madara belonged to a certain Lapturi, son of Tubusi,
mentioned in the campaign of the king's second year. In
comparing the facts given in the two passages, we see it was
situated on the eastern slope of the Kashiari, not far from
Tushkhan on one side, and Ardupa--that is probably Mardin--?
on the other. The position of Ortaveran, or of one of the