ubtful as to its
existence, but one of its kings is mentioned in a letter
from the King of Alasia to Amenothes IV.; according to
Niebuhr, the state of which Singara was the capital must
have been identical, at all events at one period, with the
Mitanni of the Egyptian texts.

*** The Arapakha of the Egyptian monuments has been
identified with the Arrapakhitis of the Greeks.

Assyria, however, had already asserted her supremacy over this corner of
Asia, and the remaining princes, even if they were not mere vicegerents
depending on her king, were not strong enough in wealth and extent
of territory to hold their own against her, since she was undisputed
mistress of Assur, Arbeles, Kalakh, and Nineveh, the most important
cities of the plain. Assur covered a considerable area, and the
rectangular outline formed by the remains of its walls is still
discernible on the surface of the soil. Within the circuit of the
city rose a mound, which the ancient builders had transformed, by
the addition of masses of brickwork, into a nearly square platform,
surmounted by the usual palace, temple, and ziggurat; it was enclosed
within a wall of squared stone, the battlements of which remain to the
present day.* The whole pile was known as the "Ekharsagkurkurra," or the
"House of the terrestrial mountain," the sanctuary in whose decoration
all the ancient sovereigns had vied with one another, including
Samsiramman I. and Irishum, who were merely vicegerents dependent upon
Babylon. It was dedicated to Anshar, that duplicate of Anu who had
led the armies of heaven in the struggle with Tiamat; the name Anshar,
softened into Aushar, and subsequently into Ashshur, was first applied
to the town and then to the whole country.**

* Ainsworth states the circumference of the principal mound
of Kalah-Shergat to be 4685 yards, which would make it one
of the most extensive ruins in the whole country.

** Another name of the town in later times was Palbeki, "the
town of the old empire," "the ancient capital," or Shauru.
Many Assyriologists believe that the name Ashur, anciently
written Aushar, signified "the plain at the edge of the
water"; and that it must have been applied to the town
before being applied to the country and the god. Others, on
the contrary, think, with more reason, that it was the god
who gave his name to the town and the country; they make a