t Assyria extends her sway,
while Babylonia, though occasionally aroused to a resistance of the
tyrannical bonds laid upon her, only to be still further weakened,
retains a distinctive existence chiefly in name. The culture of the
south is the heritage bequeathed by old Babylonia to the north.
Babylonian temples become the models for Assyrian architecture. The
literary treasures in the archives of the sacred cities of the south are
copied by the scribes of the Assyrian kings, and placed in the palaces
of the latter. Meanwhile, the capital of Assyria moves towards the
north. Ashur gives way under the glorious reign of Ashurnasirbal to
Calah, which becomes the capitol in the year 880 B.C.; and Calah, in
turn, yields to Nineveh, which becomes, from the time of Tiglathpileser
II., in the middle of the eighth century, the center of the great
kingdom. Under Ashurbanabal, who rules from 668 to 626 B.C., the climax
of Assyrian power is reached. He carries his arms to the banks of the
Nile, and succeeds in realizing the dreams of his ancestors of a direct
control over the affairs of Egypt. A patron of science and literature,
as so many great conquerors, Ashurbanabal succeeds in making Nineveh a
literary as well as a military center.

A vast collection of the cuneiform literature of Babylonia is gathered
by him for the benefit of his subjects, as he is at constant pains to
tell us. The city is further embellished with magnificent structures,
and on every side he establishes his sovereignty with such force, that
the might of Assyria appears invincible. The fatal blow, dealt with a
suddenness that remains a mystery, came from an unexpected quarter. A
great movement of wild northern hordes, rather vaguely known as the
Cimmerians and Scythians, and advancing towards the south, set in
shortly after the death of Ashurbanabal, and created great political
disturbances. The vast number of these hordes, their muscular strength,
and their unrestrained cruelty, made them a foe which Assyria found as
hard to withstand, as Rome the approach of the Vandals and Goths. The
sources for our knowledge of the last days of the Assyrian empire are
not sufficient to enable us to grasp the details, but it is certain that
the successful attempt of the Babylonians to throw off the Assyrian yoke
almost immediately after Ashurbanabal's death, was a symptom of the
ravages which the hordes made in reducing the vitality of the Assyrian
empire. Her foes gained f