at Calah, where the clay seal once attached to it has been discovered.
Peace had lasted for a dozen years, when he died about 703 B.C., and his
son Shabîtoku ascended the throne.**

* It was probably with reference to this exchange of
presents that Sabaco caused the bas-relief at Karnak to be
engraved, in which he represents himself as victorious over
both Asiatics and Africans.

** One version of Manetho assigns twelve years to the reign
of Sabaco, and this duration is confirmed by an inscription
in Hammamât, dated in his twelfth year. Sabaco having
succeeded to the throne in 716-715 B.C., his reign brings us
down to 704 or 703 B.C., which obliges us to place the
accession of Shabî-toku in the year following the death of
Sargon.

[Illustration: 011.jpg clay seal with cartouche of sabaco]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch by Layard.

The temporary embarrassments in which the Babylonian revolution had
plunged Sennacherib must have offered a tempting opportunity for
interference to this inexperienced king. Tyre and Judah alone of all the
Syrian states retained a sufficiently independent spirit to cherish any
hope of deliverance from the foreign yoke. Tyre still maintained her
supremacy over Southern Phoenicia, and her rulers were also kings of
Sidon.* The long reign of Eth-baal and his alliance with the kings of
Israel had gradually repaired the losses occasioned by civil discord,
and had restored Tyre to the high degree of prosperity which it had