artu. Argistis's hold of them proved,
however, to be a precarious and uncertain one, and before long the same
difficulties assailed him which had restricted the power of his rivals.

[Illustration: 164.jpg URARTIAN STELE ON THE ROCKS OF AK-KEUPBU]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by M. Ximones.

He was forced to return again and again to these districts, destroying
fortresses and pursuing the inhabitants over plain and mountain: in 773
we find him in Urmes, the territory of Bikhuras, and Bam, in the very
heart of Namri; in 772, in Dhuaras, and Gurqus, among the Mannai, and
at the city of Uikhis, in Bustus. Meanwhile, to the north of the Araxes,
several chiefs had taken advantage of his being thus engaged in warfare
in distant regions, to break the very feeble bond which held them
vassals to Urartu. Btius was the fountain-head and main support of the
rebellion; the rugged mountain range in its rear provided its chiefs
with secure retreats among its woods and lakes and valleys, through
which flowed rapid torrents. Argistis inflicted a final defeat on the
Mannai in 771, and then turned his forces against Etius. He took by
storm the citadel of Ardinis which defended the entrance to the country,
ravaged Ishqigulus,* and seized Amegu, the capital of Uidharus: our
knowledge of his wars comes to an end in the following year with an
expedition into the land of Tarius.

* Sayce shows that Ishqigulus was the district of
Alexandropolis, to the east of Kars; its capital, Irdanius,
is very probably either the existing walled village of
Kalinsha or the neighbouring ruin of Ajuk-kaleh, on the
Arpa-tohai.

The monuments do not tell us what he accomplished on the borders of
Asia Minor; he certainly won some considerable advantages there, and the
influence which Assyria had exercised over states scattered to the north
of the Taurus, such as Melitene, and possibly Tabal and Kummukh, which
had formed the original nucleus of the Hittite empire, must have now
passed into his hands. The form of Argistis looms before us as that of
a great conqueror, worthy to bear comparison with the most indefatigable
and triumphant of the Pharaohs of Egypt or the lords of Chaldaea. The
inscriptions which are constantly being discovered within the limits
of his kingdom prove that, following the example of all Oriental
sovereigns, he delighted as much in building as in battle: perhaps we
shall some day recover a sufficient