* In the Annals of Tiglath-pileser I. the king counts the number of his victims:  4 urus, 10 male elephants, 120 lions slain in single combat on foot, 800 lions killed by arrows let fly from his chariot.  In the Annals of Assurnazirpal, the king boasts of having slain 30 elephants, 250 urus, and 370 lions.

The chase was in those days of great service to the rural population; the kings also considered it to be one of the duties attached to their office, and on a level with their obligation to make war on neighbouring nations devoted by the will of Assur to defeat and destruction.

[Illustration:  182.jpg LIBATION POURED OVER THE LIONS ON THE RETURN FROM THE CHASE]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Hommel.

The army charged to carry out the will of the god had not yet acquired the homogeneity and efficiency which it afterwards attained, yet it had been for some time one of the most formidable in the world, and even the Egyptians themselves, in spite of their long experience in military matters, could not put into the field such a proud array of effective troops.  We do not know how this army was recruited, but the bulk of it was made up of native levies, to which foreign auxiliaries were added in numbers varying with the times.* A permanent nucleus of troops was always in garrison in the capital under the “tartan,” or placed in the principal towns at the disposal of the governors.**

* We have no bas-relief representing the armies of Tiglath- pileser I. Everything in the description which follows is taken from the monuments of Assurnazirpal and Shalmaneser II., revised as far as possible by the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser; the armament of both infantry and chariotry must have been practically the same in the two periods.

** This is based on the account given in the Obelisk of Shalmaneser, where the king, for example, after having gathered his soldiers together at Kalakh [Calah], put at their head Dainassur the artan, “the master of his innumerable troops.”

[Illustration:  183.jpg TWO ASSYRIAN ARCHERS]

     Drawn by Faucher-Gudin.

The contingents which came to be enrolled at these centres on the first rumour of war may have been taken from among the feudal militia, as was the custom in the Nile valley, or the whole population may have had to render personal military service, each receiving while with the colours a certain daily pay.  The nobles and feudal lords were accustomed to call their own people together, and either placed themselves at their head or commissioned an officer to act in their behalf.*