tes in which they
were employed are unknown. One supreme deity, Khaldis, god of the sky,
was, as far as we can conjecture, the protector of the whole nation,
and their name was derived from his, as that of the Assyrians was from
Assur, the Cossaeans from Kashshu, and the Khati from Khatu.

[Illustration: 086.jpg TEMPLE OF KHALDIS AT MUZAZIR]

This deity was assisted in the government of the universe by Teisbas,
god of the air, and Ardinis the sun-god. Groups of secondary deities
were ranged around this sovereign triad--Auis, the water; Ayas, the
earth; Selardis, the moon; Kharubainis, Irmusinis, Adarutas, and
Arzi-melas: one single inscription enumerates forty-six, but some of
these were worshipped in special localities only.

[Illustration: 089.jpg ASSYRIAN SOLDIERS CARRYING OFF OR DESTROYING THE
FURNITURE OF AN URARTIAN TEMPLE]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Botta. Scribes are weighing
gold, and soldiers destroying the statue of a god with their
axes.

It would appear as if no goddesses were included in the native Pantheon.
Saris, the only goddess known to us at present, is probably merely a
variant of the Ishtar of Nineveh or Arbela, borrowed from the Assyrians
at a later date.

The first Assyrian conquerors looked upon these northern regions as an
integral part of Nairi, and included them under that name. They knew of
no single state in the district whose power might successfully withstand
their own, but were merely acquainted with a group of hostile provinces
whose internecine conflicts left them ever at the mercy of a foreign
foe.* Two kingdoms had, however, risen to some importance about the
beginning of the ninth century--that of the Mannai in the east, and that
of Urartu in the centre of the country. Urartu comprised the district
of Ararat proper, the province of Biaina, and the entire basin of the
Arzania.

* The single inscription of Tiglath-pileser I. contains a
list of twenty-three kings of Nairi, and mentions sixty
chiefs of the same country.

[Illustration: 090.jpg SHALMANESEE III. CROSSING THE MOUNTAINS]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from one of the bas-reliefs on the
bronze gates of Balawat.

Arzashkun, one of its capitals, situated probably near the sources of
this river, was hidden, and protected against attack, by an extent of
dense forest almost impassable to a regular army. The power of this
kingdom, though as yet unorganised, had already begun to insp