ok place in 676, and
that we find them already alluded to in the first part of
the narrative, as well as the events of 675 relating to the
revolt of Dakkuri, we may conclude that the submission of
Patusharra and that of Partukka occurred in 674, or at
latest in the beginning of 673.

[Illustration: 131.jpg THE TOWN OF KHARKHAR WITH ITS TRIPLE RAMPART]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Flandin, in Botta.

The outcome of them was a distinct gain to Assyria, in the acquisition
of several new vassals. The recently founded kingdom of Ecbatana lacked
as yet the prestige which would have enabled it to hold its own against
Nineveh; besides which, Deiokes, the contemporary ruler assigned to
it by tradition, was of too complaisant a nature to seek occasions of
quarrel. The Scythians, after having declared their warlike intentions,
seem to have come to a more peaceable frame of mind, and to have curried
favour with Nineveh; but the rulers of the capital kept a strict watch
upon them, since their numbers, their intrepid character, and instinct
for rapine made them formidable enemies--the most dangerous, indeed,
that the empire had encountered on its north-eastern frontier for nearly
a century.

This policy of armed _surveillance_, which proved so successful in
these regions, was also carefully maintained by Esarhaddon on his
south-eastern border against Assyria's traditional enemy, the King
of Susa. Babylon, far from exhibiting any restlessness at her present
position, showed her gratitude for the favours which her suzerain had
showered upon her by resigning herself to become the ally of Assyria.
She regarded her late disaster as the punishment inflicted by Marduk for
her revolts against Sargon and Sennacherib. The god had let loose the
powers of evil against her, and the Arakhtu, overflowing among the
ruins, had swept them utterly away; indeed, for the space of ten years,
destruction and desolation seemed to have taken the place of her former
wealth of temples and palaces. In the eleventh year, the divine wrath
was suddenly appeased. No sooner had Esarhaddon mounted the throne, than
he entreated Shamash, Ramman, and even Marduk himself, to reveal to him
their will with regard to the city; whereupon the omens, interpreted
by the seers, commanded him to rebuild Babylon and to raise again
the temple of E-sagilla. For this purpose he brought together all the
captives taken in war that he had at his dispos