withdrawn, like a transparent veil of light from the landscape.  Over the pure cloudless sky was the glow of the last light.  In the distance and beyond the Zab, Keshaf, another venerable ruin, rose indistinctly into the evening mist.  Still more distant, and still more indistinct, was a solitary hill overlooking the ancient city of Arbela.  The Kurdish mountains, whose snowy summits cherished the dying sunbeams, yet struggled with the twilight.  The bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle, at first faint, became louder as the flocks returned from their pastures and wandered amongst the tents.  Girls hurried over the greensward to seek their fathers’ cattle, or crouched down to milk those which had returned alone to their well-remembered folds.  Some were coming from the river bearing the replenished pitcher on their heads or shoulders; others, no less graceful in their form, and erect in their carriage, were carrying the heavy loads of long grass which they had cut in the meadows."[431]

Across the meadows so beautiful in March the great armies of Ashur-natsir-pal returned with the booty of great campaigns—­horses and cattle and sheep, bales of embroidered cloth, ivory and jewels, silver and gold, the products of many countries; while thousands of prisoners were assembled there to rear stately buildings which ultimately fell into decay and were buried by drifting sands.

Layard excavated the emperor’s palace and dispatched to London, among other treasures of antiquity, the sublime winged human-headed lions which guarded the entrance, and many bas reliefs.

The Assyrian sculptures of this period lack the technical skill, the delicacy and imagination of Sumerian and Akkadian art, but they are full of energy, dignified and massive, and strong and lifelike.  They reflect the spirit of Assyria’s greatness, which, however, had a materialistic basis.  Assyrian art found expression in delineating the outward form rather than in striving to create a “thing of beauty” which is “a joy for ever”.

When Ashur-natsir-pal died, he was succeeded by his son Shalmaneser III (860-825 B.C.), whose military activities extended over his whole reign.  No fewer than thirty-two expeditions were recorded on his famous black obelisk.

As Shalmaneser was the first Assyrian king who came into direct touch with the Hebrews, it will be of interest here to review the history of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as recorded in the Bible, because of the light it throws on international politics and the situation which confronted Shalmaneser in Mesopotamia and Syria in the early part of his reign.

After Solomon died, the kingdom of his son Rehoboam was restricted to Judah, Benjamin, Moab, and Edom.  The “ten tribes” of Israel had revolted and were ruled over by Jeroboam, whose capital was at Tirzah.[432] “There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually."[433]