he priests could invite to lay hold of the
hand of Merodach, and his dynasty ended with him. It included thirty-six
kings, and had lasted five hundred and seventy-six years and six
months.*

* The following is a list of some of the kings of this dynasty according
to the canon discovered by Pinches.

[Illustration: 163.jpg TABLE]

It had enjoyed its moments of triumph, and at one time had almost seemed
destined to conquer the whole of Asia; but it appears to have invariably
failed just as it was on the point of reaching the goal, and it became
completely exhausted by its victories at the end of every two or
three generations. It had triumphed over Elam, and yet Elam remained a
constant peril on its right. It had triumphed over Assyria, yet Assyria,
after driving it back to the regions of the Upper Tigris, threatened to
bar the road to the Mediterranean by means of its Masian colonies: were
they once to succeed in this attempt, what hope would there be left to
those who ruled in Babylon of ever after re-establishing the traditional
empire of the ancient Sargon and Khammurabi? The new dynasty sprang from
a town in Pashe, the geographical position of which is not known. It was
of Babylonian origin, and its members placed, at the be ginning of their
protocols, formula which were intended to indicate, in the clearest
possible manner, the source from which they sprang: they declared
themselves to be scions of Babylon, its vicegerents, and supreme
masters. The names of the first two we do not know: the third,
Nebuchadrezzar, shows himself to have been one of the most remarkable
men of all those who flourished during this troubled era. At no time,
perhaps, had Chaldaea been in a more abject state, or assailed by more
active foes. The Elamite had just succeeded in wresting from her Namar,
the region from whence the bulk of her chariot-horses were obtained, and
this success had laid the provinces on the left bank of the Tigris open
to their attacks. They had even crossed the river, pillaged Babylon,
and carried away the statue of Bel and that of a goddess named Eria, the
patroness of Khussi: "Merodach, sore angered, held himself aloof from
the country of Akkad;" the kings could no longer "take his hands" on
their coming to the throne, and were obliged to reign without proper
investiture in consequence of their failure to fulfil the rite required
by religious laws.*

* The _Donation to Shamud and Shamai_ informs us that