Northern Syria:  the decadence of the Hittites and the steady growth of the Aramaean tribes—­The decline of the Babylonian empire under the Cossaean kings, and its relations with Egypt:  Assuruballit, Bammdn-nirdri I. and the first Assyrian conquests—­Assyria, its climate, provinces, and cities:  the god Assur and his Ishtar—­The wars against Chaldaea:  Shalmaneser I., Tulculi-ninip I., and the taking of Babylon—­Belchadrezzar and the last of the Cosssaeans.

The dynasty of Pashe:  Nebuchadrezzar I., his disputes with Elam, his defeat by Assurrishishi—­The legend of the first Assyrian empire, Ninos and Semiramis—­The Assyrians and their political constitution:  the limmu, the king and his divine character, his hunting and his wars—­The Assyrian army:  the infantry and chariotry, the crossing of rivers, mode of marching in the plains and in the mountain districts—­Camps, battles, sieges; cruelty shown to the vanquished, the destruction of towns and the removal of the inhabitants, the ephemeral character of the Assyrian conquests.

Tiglath pileser I.:  Ms campaign against the Mushhu, his conquest of Kurhhi and of the regions of the Zab—­The petty Asiatic kingdoms and their civilization:  art and writing in the old Hittite states—­Tiglath-pileser I. in Nairi and in Syria:  his triumphal stele at Sebbeneh-Su—­His buildings, his hunts, his conquest of Babylon—­Merodach-nadin-akhi and the close of the Pashe dynasty—­Assur-belkala and Samsi-ramman III.:  the decline of Assyria—­Syria without a foreign rider:  the incapacity of the Khdti to give unity to the country.

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CHAPTER II—­THE RISE OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE

Phoenicia and the northern nations after the death of Ramses III.—­The first Assyrian empire:  Tiglath-pileser I.—­The Aramoans and the Khati.

The cessation of Egyptian authority over countries in which it had so long prevailed did not at once do away with the deep impression which it had made upon their constitution and customs.  While the nobles and citizens of Thebes were adopting the imported worship of Baal and Astarte, and were introducing into the spoken and written language words borrowed from Semitic speech, the Syrians, on the other hand, were not unreceptive of the influence of their conquerors.  They had applied themselves zealously to the study of Egyptian arts, industry and religion, and had borrowed from these as much, at least, as they had lent to the dwellers on the Nile.  The ancient Babylonian foundation of their civilization was not, indeed, seriously modified, but it was covered over, so to speak, with an African veneer which varied in depth according to the locality.*