d yet another year to the war against
Damascus. Eezin had not been dismayed by the evil fortune of his
friends, and had made good his losses by means of fresh alliances. He
had persuaded first Mutton II. of Tyre, then Mitinti of Askalon, and
with the latter a section of the Philistines, to throw in their lot with
him; he had even won over Shamshieh, queen of the Arabs, and with her
a number of the most warlike of the desert tribes; for himself, he had
taken up a position on the further side of Anti-Lebanon, and kept strict
watch from Mount Hermon on the roads leading from the valley of the
Jordan to the plains of the Abana, in order to prevent the enemy from
outflanking him and taking him in the rear. But all to no purpose;
Tiglath-pileser bore directly down upon him, overwhelmed him in a
pitched battle, obliged him to take refuge behind the walls of Damascus,
and there besieged him.

[Illustration: 288.jpg MOUNT HERMON]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph brought back by Lortet.

The city was well fortified, amply supplied with provisions, and
strongly garrisoned; the siege was, therefore, a long one, and the
Assyrians filled up the time by laying waste the fertile country at
the foot of Anti-Lebanon. At last Rezin yielded, gave himself up
unconditionally, and was forthwith executed: eight thousand of his
followers were carried off to Kir, on the confines of Elam,* his kingdom
was abolished, and a Ninevite governor was installed in his palace, by
whom the former domain of Damascus and the territory lately wrested from
Israel were henceforth to be administered.

* 2 Kings xvi. 9. Kir is generally located in Armenia,
Media, or Babylonia; a passage in Isaiah (xxii. 6), however,
seems to point to its having been somewhere in the direction
of Elam, and associated with the Aramaeans on the banks of
the Tigris. The Assyrian monuments have not, as yet, yielded
confirmation of the details given by the _Book of the Kings_
in regard to the captivity of the inhabitants of Damascus. A
fragmentary tablet, giving an account of the death of Rezin,
was discovered by H. Raw-linson, but it was left in Assyria,
and no one knows what has since become of it.

[Illustration: 289.jpg AN ARAB]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard.

The coalition he had formed did not long survive its leader.* Mutton
hastily came to an understanding with the conqueror; Mitinti, like
Hannon, f