* The name of Khanni has been explained by Sayce as the
     desirable, and that of his father, Takhkhi-khikhutur, as
     help this thy servant.

[Illustration:  349.jpg THE GREAT ROCK BAS-RELIEF OF MALAMIR]

     Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Babin and Houssay.

This prince, even if possessed of no royal protocol, was none the less a powerful and wealthy personage.  His figure dominates the picture, the central space of which it completely fills;* his expression is calm, but somewhat severe.  His head is covered by a low cap, from which long locks escape and flow over his shoulders; the hair on his face is symmetrically curled above the level of his mouth, and terminates in a pointed beard.  The figure is clothed from head to foot in a stiff robe and mantle adorned with tufted fringes, and borders of embroidered rosettes; a girdle at the waist completes the misleading resemblance to the gala-dress of a Nine vite, monarch.  The hands are crossed on the breast in an attitude of contemplation, while the prince gazes thoughtfully at a sacrifice which is being offered on his behalf.  At the bottom of the picture stands a small altar, behind which a priest in a short tunic seems to be accomplishing some ceremonial rite, while two men are cutting the throat of a ram.  Higher up the heads of three rams lie beside their headless trunks, which are resting on the ground, feet in the air, while a servant brandishes a short sword with which he is about to decapitate the fourth beast.  Above these, again, three musicians march in procession, one playing on a harp, another on a five-stringed lyre, and the third on a tambourine.  An attendant holding a bow, and the minister Shutsururazi, stand quietly waiting till the sacrifice is accomplished.  The long text which runs across several of the figures is doubtless a prayer, and contains the names of peoples and princes mingled with those of deities.

* Perrot and Chipiez, misled by the analogy of the Hittite bas-relief at Ibriz, took the largest figure for the image of a god.  The inscription engraved on the robe, U Khanni shak Takkhi-khikutur, “I am Khanni, son of Takhkhi- khikhutur,” leaves no doubt that the figure represents the prince himself, and not a divinity.

The memory of these provincial chiefs would be revived, and more of their monuments discovered, if the mountains and inaccessible valleys of ancient Elam could be thoroughly explored:  it is evident, from the small portion of their history which has been brought to light, that they must have been great sources of trouble to the dynasties which reigned in Susa, and that their revolts must often have jeopardised the safety of the empire, in spite of the assistance afforded by the Aramaeans from the tenth or eleventh centuries onwards.  All the semi-nomadic tribes which densely peopled the banks of the Tigris, and whose advance towards the north had been temporarily favoured by