he had made among the peoples of the AEgean seaboard; but in the gorges of Cilicia he came into contact with forces much superior to his own, and fell fighting against them about the year 645 B.C.  His son Sanda-khshatru led the survivors of this disaster back towards the centre of the peninsula, but the conflict had been so sanguinary that the Cimmerian power never fully recovered from it.  Assur-bani-pal celebrated the victory won by his generals with a solemn thanksgiving to Marduk, accompanied by substantial offerings of gold and objects of great value.*

* Strabo was aware, perhaps from Xanthus of Lyclia, that Lygdamis had fallen in battle in Cilicia.  The hymn to Marduk, published by Strong, informs us that the Cimmerian chief fell upon the Assyrians, and that his son Sanda- khshatru carried on hostilities some time longer.  Sanda- khshatru is an Iranian name of the same type as that of the Median king Uva-khshatra or Cyaxares.

The tranquillity of the north-west frontier was thus for a time secured, and this success most opportunely afforded the king leisure to turn his attention to those of his vassals who, having thrown off their allegiance during the war against Shamash-shumukin, had not yet returned to their obedience.  Among these were the Arabs and the petty princes of Egypt.  The contingents furnished by Yauta, son of Hazael, had behaved valiantly during the siege of Babylon, and when they thought the end was approaching, their leaders, Abiyate and Aamu, had tried to cut a way through the Assyrian lines:  being repulsed, they had laid down their arms on condition of their lives being spared.  There now remained the bulk of the Arab tribes to be reduced to submission, and the recent experiences of Esarhaddon had shown the difficulties attending this task.  Assur-bani-pal entrusted its accomplishment to his subjects in Edom, Moab, Ammon, the Hauran, and Damascus, since, dwelling on the very borders of the desert, they were familiar with the routes and the methods of warfare best suited to the country.  They proved victorious all along the line.  Yauta, betrayed by his own subjects, took refuge with the Nabataeans; but their king, Nadanu, although he did not actually deliver him up to the Assyrians, refused to grant him an asylum, and the unhappy man was finally obliged to surrender to his pursuers.  His cousin Uate, son of Birdadda, was made chief in his place by the Assyrians, and Yauta was sent to Nineveh, where he was exposed at one of the city gates, chained in a niche beside the watch-dogs.  Amuladdin, the leading prince of Kedar, met with no better fate:  he was overcome, in spite of the assistance rendered him by Adiya, the queen of a neighbouring tribe, and was also carried away into captivity.  His defeat completed the discouragement of the tribes who still remained unsubdued.  They implored mercy, which Assur-bani-pal granted to them, although he deposed most of their sheikhs, and appointed as their ruler that Abiyate who had dwelt at his court since the capitulation of Babylon.  Abiyate took the oath of fidelity, and was sent back to Kedar, where he was proclaimed king of all the Arab tribes under the suzerainty of Assyria.*