score of them, in spite of the fact that the list thus furnished is
not a complete one; the provinces of which we know most are those whose
rulers were successively appointed to act as _limmi_, each of them
giving their name to a year of a reign. Assyria proper contained at
least four, viz. Assur (called _the country_, as distinguished from all
others), Calah, Nineveh, and Arbela. The basin of the Lesser Zab was
divided into the provinces of Kakzi, Arrapkha, and Akhizukhina;* that of
the Upper Tigris into those of Amidi, Tushkhan, and Gozan. Kirruri was
bounded by Mazamua, and Mazamua by Arrapkha and Lake Urumiah. We hear
of the three spheres of Nazibina (Nisibis), Tela, and Kazappa in
Mesopotamia,** the two former on the southern watersheds of the Masios,
on the highways leading into Syria; the latter to the south of the
Euphrates, in the former kingdom of the Laqi.

* Akhizukhina is probably identical with Arzukhina = "the
City of Zukhma," which is referred to as being situated in
the basin of the Lesser Zab.

** Razappa is the biblical Rezeph (2 Kings xix. 12; Isa.
xxxvii. 12) and the Resapha of Ptolemy, now Er-Rasafa, to
the south of the Euphrates, on one of the routes leading to
Palmyra.

Most of them included--in addition to the territory under the immediate
control of the governor--a number of vassal states, kingdoms, cities,
and tribes, which enjoyed a certain measure of independence, but were
liable to pay tribute and render military service.

[Illustration: 298.jpg MAP OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE UNDER TIGLATH-PILESER
III.]

Each new country was annexed, as soon as conquered, to the nearest
province, or, if necessary, was converted into a distinct province by
itself; thus we find that Assur-nazir-pal, after laying hands on the
upper valleys of the Radanu and the Turnat, rebuilt the ruined city of
Atlila, re-named it Dur-Assur, placed a commandant, cavalry, and
eunuchs there, and established within it storehouses for the receipt
of contributions from the neighbouring barbarians. He followed the
same course on each occasion when the fortune of war brought him fresh
subjects;* and his successors, Shalmaneser III., Samsi-ramman IV.,
and Ramman-nirari did the same thing in Media, in Asia Minor, and in
Northern Syria;** Tiglath-pileser III. had only to follow their example
and extend the application of their system to the countries which he
gradually forced to submit to his rule