connected the
embassy, mentioned in the Assyrian documents, with the fact
of the accession of the king who sent it.

[Illustration: 215.jpg THE HEAD OF THUMMAN SENT TO NINEVEH]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken in the British
Museum. The chariot speeding along at a gallop in the
topmost series of pictures carries a soldier bearing the
head of Tiumraan in his hand; behind him, under a tent,
scribes are registering the heads which are brought in. In
the two lower bas-reliefs are displayed the closing scenes
of the battle.

These wretched men had a more cruel ordeal yet in store for them: when
the Assyrian army re-entered Nineveh, Assur-bani-pal placed them on the
route along which the cortege had to pass, and made them realise to the
full the humiliation of their country. Dunanu walked at the head of the
band of captive chiefs, with the head of Tiumman, taken from its tree,
suspended round his neck. When the delegates perceived it, they gave way
to despair:

Khumba-dara tore out his beard by handfuls, and Nabu-damiq, unsheathing
the dagger which hung from his belt, plunged it into his own breast.

[Illustration: 216.jpg ASSUR-BANI-PAL BANQUETING WITH HIS QUEEN]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of the original in the
British Museum The head of Tiumman hangs on the second tree
on the left-hand side.

The triumphal entry was followed by the usual tortures. The head of
Tiumman was fixed over the gate of Nineveh, to rot before the eyes of
the multitude. Dunanu was slowly flayed alive, and then bled like a
lamb; his brother Shamgunu had his throat cut, and his body was divided
into pieces, which were distributed over the country as a warning. Even
the dead were not spared: the bones of Nabu-shumirish were disinterred
and transported to Assyria, where his sons were forced to bray them in a
mortar.* We may estimate the extent of the alarm which had been felt at
Nineveh by the outburst of brutal joy with which the victory was hailed.

* The fullest text of all those which narrate the campaign
against Tiumman and Dunanu is that on _Cylinder B of the
British Museum_. It pretends, as usual, that the king led
the army in person, but the words which the seer places in
the mouth of Ishtar prove that the king remained at Arbela
by divine command, and the inscription on one of the bas-
reliefs, as well as _Tablet K 2674_,