mention a country, whose name, half effaced, ended in _-ku_:
I think we may safely restore this name as [Ashtama]kou,
mentioned by Shalmaneser III. in this region, after the name
of laraku. The country of Ashtamaku would thus be the
present canton of Urdeh, which is traversed before reaching
the banks of the Nahr-el-Kebir.

After a brief halt there in camp, he turned his back on the sea, and
passing between Saratini and Duppani,* took by assault the fortress of
Aribua.** This stronghold commanded all the surrounding country, and was
the seat of a palace which Lubarna at times used as a similar residence.
Here Assur-nazir-pal took up his quarters, and deposited within its
walls the corn and spoils of Lukhuti;*** he established here an Assyrian
colony, and, besides being the scene of royal festivities, it became
henceforth the centre of operations against the mountain tribes.

* The mountain cantons of Saratini and Duppani (Kalpani
l'Adpani?), situated immediately to the south of the Nahr-el-
Kebir, correspond to the southern part of Gebel-el-Akrad,
but I cannot discover any names on the modern map at all
resembling them.

** Beyond Duppani, Assur-nazir-pal encamped on the banks of
a river whose name is unfortunately effaced, and then
reached Aribua; this itinerary leads us to the eastern slope
of the Gebel Ansarieh in the latitude of Hamath. The only
site I can find in this direction fulfilling the
requirements of the text is that of Masiad, where there
still exists a fort of the Assassins. The name Aribua is
perhaps preserved in that of Rabao, er-Rabahu, which is
applied to a wady and village in the neighbourhood of
Masiad.

*** Lukhuti must not be sought in the plains of the Orontes,
where Assur-nazir-pal would have run the risk of an
encounter with the King of Hamath or his vassals; it must
represent the part of the mountain of Ansarieh lying between
Kadmus, Masiad, and Tortosa.

The forts of the latter were destroyed, their houses burned, and
prisoners were impaled outside the gates of their cities. Having
achieved this noble exploit, the king crossed the intervening spurs of
Lebanon and marched down to the shores of the Mediterranean. Here he
bathed his weapons in the waters, and offered the customary sacrifices
to the gods of the sea, while the Phoenicians, with their wonted
prud