The inscription on the monument briefly relates the events which had occurred between the first and the thirty-first years of Shalmaneser’s reign;—­the defeat of Damascus, of Babylon and Urartu, the conquest of Northern Syria, of Cilicia, and of the countries bordering on the Zagros.  When the king left Calah for some country residence in its-neighbourhood, similar records and carvings would meet his eye.  At Imgur-Bel, one of the gates of the palace was covered with plates of bronze, on which the skilful artist had embossed and engraved with the chisel episodes from the campaigns on the Euphrates and the Tigris, the crossing of mountains and rivers, the assault and burning of cities, the long lines of captives, the melee with the enemy and the pursuit of the chariots.  All the cities of Assyria, Nineveh,* Arbela, Assur, even to the more distant towns of Harran** and Tushkhan,***—­vied with each other in exhibiting proofs of his zeal for their gods and his affection for their inhabitants; but his predilection for Calah filled them with jealousy, and Assur particularly could ill brook the growing aversion with which the Assyrian kings regarded her.  It was of no avail that she continued to be the administrative and religious capital of the empire, the storehouse of the spoil and annual tribute of other nations, and was continually embellishing herself with fresh monuments:  a spirit of discontent was daily increasing, and merely awaited some favourable occasion to break out into open revolt.  Shalmaneser enjoyed the dignity of limmu for the second time after thirty years, and had celebrated this jubilee of his inauguration by a solemn festival in honour of Assur and Eamman.****

* Nineveh is mentioned as the starting-place of nearly all the first campaigns in the inscription on the Monolith; also in the Balawat inscription, on the other hand, towards the end of the reign, Calah is given as the residence of the king on the Black Obelisk

     ** Mention of the buildings of Shalmaneser III. at Harran
     occurs in an inscription of Nabonidus.

     *** The Monolith discovered at Kurkh is in itself a proof
     that Shalmaneser executed works in this town, the Tushkhan
     of the inscriptions.

**** Any connection established between this thirty-year jubilee and the thirty years’ festival of Egypt rests on facts which can be so little relied on, that it must be accepted with considerable reserve.

[Illustration:  144.jpg THE BRONZE-COVERED GATES OF BALAWAT]

     Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the sketch by Pinches.