ore to the foremost rank; their
want of power, their discord, the insubordination and sedition that
existed among their Cossaean troops, and the almost periodic returns of
the Theban generals to the banks of the Euphrates, sometimes even to
those of the Balikh and the Khabur, all seemed to conspire to aggravate
the helpless state into which Babylon had sunk since the close of the
dynasty of Uruazagga. Elam was pressing upon her eastern, and Assyria
on her northern frontier, and their kings not only harassed her with
persistent malignity, but, by virtue of their alliances by marriage with
her sovereigns, took advantage of every occasion to interfere both
in domestic and state affairs; they would espouse the cause of some
pretender during a revolt, they would assume the guardianship of such
of their relatives as were left widows or minors, and, when the occasion
presented itself, they took possession of the throne of Bel, or bestowed
it on one of their creatures. Assyria particularly seemed to regard
Babylon with a deadly hatred. The capitals of the two countries were not
more than some one hundred and eighty-five miles apart, the intervening
district being a flat and monotonous alluvial plain, unbroken by any
feature which could serve as a natural frontier. The line of demarcation
usually followed one of the many canals in the narrow strip of land
between the Euphrates and the Tigris; it then crossed the latter, and
was formed by one of the rivers draining the Iranian table-land,--either
the Upper Zab, the Radanu, the Turnat, or some of their ramifications in
the spurs of the mountain ranges. Each of the two states strove by every
means in its power to stretch its boundary to the farthest limits,
and to keep it there at all hazards. This narrow area was the scene of
continual war, either between the armies of the two states or those of
partisans, suspended from time to time by an elaborate treaty which was
supposed to settle all difficulties, but, as a matter of fact, satisfied
no one, and left both parties discontented with their lot and jealous of
each other. The concessions made were never of sufficient importance
to enable the conqueror to crush his rival and regain for himself the
ancient domain of Khammurabi; his losses, on the other hand, were
often considerable enough to paralyse his forces, and prevent him from
extending his border in any other direction. When the Egyptians seized
on Naharaim, Assyria and Babylon