ter the fashion of the modern Khuzeyl and
Affej Arabs, the latter of whom inhabit nearly the same tract. The
sheikh of this tribe had revolted; but on the approach of the Assyrians
he submitted himself, bringing in person the arrears of his tribute and
a present of buffaloes, whereby he sought to propitiate the wrath of his
suzerain. Esar-haddon states that he forgave him; that he strengthened
his capital with fresh works, placed a garrison in it, and made it a
stronghold to protect the territory against the attacks of the
Susianians.

The last expedition mentioned on the cylinder, which seems not to have
been conducted by the king in person, was against the country of Bikni,
or Bikan, one of the more remote regions of Media--perhaps Azerbijan. No
Assyrian monarch before Esar-haddon had ever invaded this region. It was
under the government of a number of chiefs--the Arian character of whose
names is unmistakable--each of whom ruled over his own town and the
adjacent district. Esar-haddon seized two of the chiefs and carried them
off to Assyria, whereupon several others made their submission,
consenting to pay a tribute and to divide their authority with Assyrian
officers.

It is probable that these various expeditions occupied Esarhaddon from
B.C. 681, the year of his accession, to B.C. 671, when it is likely that
they were recorded on the existing cylinder. The expeditions are ten in
number, directed against countries remote from one another; and each may
well have occupied an entire year. There would thus remain only three
more years of the king's reign, after the termination of the chief
native record, during which his history has to be learnt from other
sources. Into this space falls, almost certainly, the greatest of
Esar-haddon's exploits the conquest of Egypt; and, probably, one of the
most interesting episodes of his reign--the punishment and pardon of
Manasseh. With the consideration of these two events the military
history of his reign will terminate.

The conquest of Egypt by Esar-haddon, though concealed from Herodotus,
and not known even to Diodorus, was no secret to the more learned
Greeks, who probably found an account of the expedition in the great
work of Berosus. All that we know of its circumstances is derived from
an imperfect transcript of the Nahr-el-Kelb tablet, and a short notice
in the annals of Esar-haddon's son and successor, Asshur-bani-pal, who
finds it necessary to make an allusion to th