arts built by Ishpuims.
Menuas finished the buildings his father had begun, erected others
in all the districts where he sojourned, in time of peace or war, at
Shushanz, Sirka,* Anzaff, Arzwapert, Geuzak, Zolakert, Tashtepe, and in
the country of the Mannai, and it is possible that the fortified village
of Melasgerd still bears his name.**

* The name of the ancient place corresponding to the modern
village of Sirka was probably Artsunis or Artsuyunis,
according to the Vannic inscriptions.

** A more correct form than Melas-gerd is Manas-gert, _the
city of Manas_, where Manas would represent Menuas: one of
the inscriptions of Aghtamar speaks of a certain
Menuakhinas, _city of Menuas_, which may be a primitive
version of the same name.

His wars furnished him with the men and materials necessary for the
rapid completion of these works, while the statues, valuable articles
of furniture, and costly fabrics, vessels of silver, gold, and
copper carried off from Assyrian or Asiatic cities, provided him with
surroundings as luxurious as those enjoyed by the kings of Nineveh. His
favourite residence was amid the valleys and hills of the south-western
shore of Lake Van, the sea of the rising sun. His father, Ishpuinis, had
already done much to embellish the site of Dhuspas, or Khaldinas as
it was called, from the god Khaldis; he had surrounded it with strong
walls, and within them had laid the foundations of a magnificent
palace. Menuas carried on the work, brought water to the cisterns by
subterranean aqueducts, planted gardens, and turned the whole place into
an impregnable fortress, where a small but faithful garrison could defy
a large army for several years. Dhuspas, thus completed, formed the
capital and defence of the kingdom during the succeeding century.

Menuas was gathered to his fathers shortly before the death of
Eamman-nirari, perhaps in 784 B.C.*

* This date seems to agree with the text of the _Annals of
Argistis_, as far as we are at present acquainted with them;
Mueller has shown, in fact, that they contain the account of
fourteen campaigns, probably the first fourteen of the reign
of Argistis, and he has recognised, in accordance with the
observations of Stanislas Guyard, the formula which
separates the campaigns one from another. There are two
campaigns against the peoples of the Upper Euphrates
mentioned before the ca