lip and cheek were pierced by the hand of the king himself, and he was led by a cord passed through the wounds, as if he had been a wild beast intended for domestication; a dog’s collar was riveted round his neck, and he was exposed in a cage at one of the gates of Nineveh.  Aamu, the brother of Abiyate, was less fortunate, for he was flayed alive before the eyes of the mob.  Assyria was glutted with the spoil:  the king, as was customary, reserved for his own service the able-bodied men for the purpose of recruiting his battalions, distributing the remainder among his officers and soldiers.  The camels captured were so numerous that their market-value was for a long time much reduced; they were offered in the open market, like sheep, for a half-shekel of silver apiece, and the vendor thought himself fortunate to find a purchaser even at this price.

The final ruin of Elam followed swiftly on the subjugation of Arabia.  While one division of the army was scouring the desert, the remainder were searching the upland valleys of the Ulai and the Uknu, and relentlessly pursuing Khumban-khaldash.  The wretched monarch was now in command of merely a few bands of tattered followers, and could no longer take the field; the approach of the enemy obliged him to flee from Madaktu, and entrench himself on the heights.  Famine, misery, and probably also the treachery of his last adherents, soon drove him from his position, and, despairing of his cause, he surrendered himself to the officers who were in pursuit of him.  He was the third king of Elam whom fate had cast alive into the hands of the conqueror:  his arrival at Nineveh afforded the haughty Assur-bani-pal an occasion for celebrating one of those triumphal processions in which his proud soul delighted, and of going in solemn state to thank the gods for the overthrow of his most formidable enemy.  On the day when he went to prostrate himself before Assur and Ishtar, he sent for Tammaritu, Pae, and Khumban-khaldash, and adding to them Uate, who was taken out of his cage for the occasion, he harnessed all four to his chariot of state, and caused himself to be drawn through Nineveh by this team of fallen sovereigns to the gate of the temple of Emashmash.  And, indeed, at that moment, he might reasonably consider himself as having reached the zenith of his power.  Egypt, it is true, still remained unpunished, and its renewed vitality under the influence of the Saite Pharaohs allowed no hope of its being speedily brought back into subjection, but its intrigues no longer exerted any influence over Syria, and Tyre itself appeared to be resigned to the loss of its possessions on the mainland.  Lydia under the rule of Ardys continued to maintain intermittent intercourse with its distant protector.  The provinces of the Taurus, delivered from the terror inspired by the Cimmerians, desired peace above all things, and the Mannai had remained quiet since the defeat of Akhsheri.  Babylon was rapidly recovering from the ills she had