rown.

* The name of the Babylonian king has been variously read
Merodach-shapik-zirat, Merodach-shapik-kullat, Merodach-
shapik-zirmati and Merodach-shapik-zirim.

Assur-belkala not only extended to this usurper the friendly relations
he had kept up with the legitimate sovereign, but he asked for the hand
of his daughter in marriage, and the rich dowry which she brought her
husband no doubt contributed to the continuation of his pacific policy.
He appears also to have kept possession of all the parts of Mesopotamia
and Kammukh conquered by his father, and it is possible that he may have
penetrated beyond the Euphrates. His brother, Samsi-ramman III.,
does not appear to have left any more definite mark upon history than
Assur-belkala; he decorated the temples built by his predecessors,
but beyond this we have no certain record of his achievements. We know
nothing of the kings who followed him, their names even having been
lost, but about a century and a half after Tiglath-pileser, a certain
Assurirba seems to have crossed Northern Syria, and following in the
footsteps of his great ancestor, to have penetrated as far as the
Mediterranean: on the rocks of Mount Amanus, facing the sea, he left
a triumphal inscription in which he set forth the mighty deeds he
had accomplished. This is merely a gleam out of the murky night which
envelops his history, and the testimony of one of his descendants
informs us that his good fortune soon forsook him: the Aramaeans wrested
from him the fortresses of Pitru and Mutkinu, which commanded both banks
of the Euphrates near Carchemish. Nor did the retrograde movement slaken
after his time: Assyria slowly wasted away down to the end of the Xth
century, and but for the simultaneous decadence of the Chaldaeans, its
downfall would have been complete. But neither Ramman-abaliddin nor his
successor was able to take advantage of its weakness; discord and
want of energy soon brought about their own ruin. The dynasty of
Pashe disappeared towards the middle of the Xth century, and a family
belonging to the "Countries of the Sea" took its place: it had continued
for about one hundred and thirty-two years, and had produced eleven
kings.*

* It is no easy matter to draw up an exact list of this
dynasty, and Hilprecht's attempt to do so contains more than
one doubtful name. The following list is very imperfect and
doubtful, but the best that our present knowledge ena