Till what time, O lord of Babylon, wilt thou remain in hostile regions?—­Let thy heart be softened, and make Babylon joyful,—­and let thy face be turned toward Eshaggil which thou lovest!’” Merodach gave ear to the plaint of his servant:  he answered him graciously and promised his aid.  Namar, united as it had been with Chaldaea for centuries, did not readily become accustomed to its new masters.  The greater part of the land belonged to a Semitic and Cossaean feudality, the heads of which, while admitting their suzerain’s right to exact military service from them, refused to acknowledge any further duty towards him.  The kings of Susa declined to recognise their privileges:  they subjected them to a poll-tax, levied the usual imposts on their estates, and forced them to maintain at their own expense the troops quartered on them for the purpose of guaranteeing their obedience.*

* Shamua and Shamai “fled in like manner towards Karduniash, before the King of Elam;” it would seem that Rittimerodach had entered into secret negotiations with Nebuchadrezzar, though this is nowhere explicitly stated in the text.

Several of the nobles abandoned everything rather than submit to such tyranny, and took refuge with Nebuchadrezzar:  others entered into secret negotiations with him, and promised to support him if he came to their help with an armed force.  He took them at their word, and invaded Namar without warning in the month of Tamuz, while the summer was at its height, at a season in which the Elamites never even dreamt he would take the field.  The heat was intense, water was not to be got, and the army suffered terribly from thirst during its forced march of over a hundred miles across a parched-up country.  One of the malcontents, Eittimerodach, lord of Bitkarziabku, joined Nebuchadrezzar with all the men he could assemble, and together they penetrated as far as Ulai.  The King of Elam, taken by surprise, made no attempt to check their progress, but collected his vassals and awaited their attack on the banks of the river in front of Susa.  Once “the fire of the combat had been lighted between the opposing forces, the face of the sun grew dark, the tempest broke forth, the whirlwind raged, and in this whirlwind of the struggle none of the characters could distinguish the face of his neighbour.”  Nebuchadrezzar, cut off from his own men, was about to surrender or be killed, when Eittimerodach flew to his rescue and brought him off safely.  In the end the Chaldaeans gained the upper hand.*

* Donation to Rittimerodach, col. i. 11. 12-43.  The description of the battle as given in this document is generally taken to be merely symbolical, and I have followed the current usage.  But if we bear in mind that the text lays emphasis on the drought and severity of the season, we are tempted to agree with Pinches and Budge that its statements should be taken literally.  The affair may have been begun