* All that we know of these two kings is contained in the copy, executed in the time of Assurbanipal, of a letter addressed to them by Eammanshumusur.  They have been placed, at one time or another, either at the beginning of Assyrian history before Assurbelnishishu, or after Tigiath-pileser I., about the XIth or Xth, or even the VIIIth century before our era.  It has since been discovered that the Rammanshumusur who wrote this letter was the successor of Tukulti-ninip I. in Chaldaea.

This period of subjection and humiliation did not last long.  Belkudurusur, who appears on the throne not long after Assurnirari and his partner, resumed military operations against the Cossaeans, but cautiously at first; and though he fell in the decisive engagement, yet Bamman-shumusur perished with him, and the two states were thus simultaneously left rulerless.  Milishikhu succeeded Bammanshumusur, and Ninipahalesharra filled the place of Belkudurusur; the disastrous invasion of Assyria by the Chaldaeans, and their subsequent retreat, at length led to an armistice, which, while it afforded evidence of the indisputable superiority of Milishikhu, proved no less plainly the independence of his rival.  Mero-dachabaliddina I. replaced Milishikhu, Zamaniashu-middin followed Merodachabaliddina:  Assurdan I., son of Ninipahalesharra, broke the treaty, captured the towns of Zaban, Irria, and Akarsallu, and succeeded in retaining them.  The advantage thus gained was but a slight one, for these provinces lying between the two Zabs had long been subject to Assyria, and had been wrested from her since the days of Tukulti-ninip:  however, it broke the run of ill luck which seemed to have pursued her so relentlessly, and opened the way for more important victories.  This was the last Cossaean war; at any rate, the last of which we find any mention in history:  Bel-nadinshumu II. reigned three years after Zamamashu-middin, but when he died there was no man of his family whom the priests could invite to lay hold of the hand of Merodach, and his dynasty ended with him.  It included thirty-six kings, and had lasted five hundred and seventy-six years and six months.*

* The following is a list of some of the kings of this dynasty according to the canon discovered by Pinches.

[Illustration:  163.jpg TABLE]

It had enjoyed its moments of triumph, and at one time had almost seemed destined to conquer the whole of Asia; but it appears to have invariably failed just as it was on the point of reaching the goal, and it became completely exhausted by its victories at the end of every two or three generations.  It had triumphed over Elam, and yet Elam remained a constant peril on its right.  It had triumphed over Assyria, yet Assyria, after driving it back to the regions of the Upper Tigris, threatened to bar the road to the Mediterranean by means of its Masian colonies:  were they once to succeed in this attempt, what hope would there be left to those who ruled in Babylon