cured,
and this success most opportunely afforded the king leisure to turn
his attention to those of his vassals who, having thrown off their
allegiance during the war against Shamash-shumukin, had not yet returned
to their obedience. Among these were the Arabs and the petty princes of
Egypt. The contingents furnished by Yauta, son of Hazael, had behaved
valiantly during the siege of Babylon, and when they thought the end
was approaching, their leaders, Abiyate and Aamu, had tried to cut a
way through the Assyrian lines: being repulsed, they had laid down their
arms on condition of their lives being spared. There now remained the
bulk of the Arab tribes to be reduced to submission, and the recent
experiences of Esarhaddon had shown the difficulties attending this
task. Assur-bani-pal entrusted its accomplishment to his subjects in
Edom, Moab, Ammon, the Hauran, and Damascus, since, dwelling on the
very borders of the desert, they were familiar with the routes and the
methods of warfare best suited to the country. They proved victorious
all along the line. Yauta, betrayed by his own subjects, took refuge
with the Nabataeans; but their king, Nadanu, although he did not
actually deliver him up to the Assyrians, refused to grant him an
asylum, and the unhappy man was finally obliged to surrender to his
pursuers. His cousin Uate, son of Birdadda, was made chief in his place
by the Assyrians, and Yauta was sent to Nineveh, where he was exposed
at one of the city gates, chained in a niche beside the watch-dogs.
Amuladdin, the leading prince of Kedar, met with no better fate: he was
overcome, in spite of the assistance rendered him by Adiya, the queen
of a neighbouring tribe, and was also carried away into captivity. His
defeat completed the discouragement of the tribes who still remained
unsubdued. They implored mercy, which Assur-bani-pal granted to them,
although he deposed most of their sheikhs, and appointed as their
ruler that Abiyate who had dwelt at his court since the capitulation of
Babylon. Abiyate took the oath of fidelity, and was sent back to Kedar,
where he was proclaimed king of all the Arab tribes under the suzerainty
of Assyria.*

* The _Cylinder B of the Brit. Mus._ attributes to the reign
of Assur-bani-pala whole series of events, comprising the
first submission of Yauta and the restitution of the statues
of Atarsamain, which had taken place under Esarhaddon. The
Assyrian annalists