sing of the western nations seems to
have taken place; and in order to maintain his conquest it was necessary
for the conqueror to make a fresh effort. Once more the four eastern
kings entered Syria, and, after various successes against minor powers,
engaged a second time in the valley of Siddim with their old
antagonists, whom they defeated with great slaughter; after which they
plundered the chief cities belonging to them. It was on this occasion
that Lot, the nephew of Abraham, was taken prisoner. Laden with booty
of various kinds, and encumbered with a number of captives, male and
female, the conquering army set out upon its march home, and had reached
the neighborhood of Damascus, when it was attacked and defeated by
Abraham, who with a small band ventured under cover of night to fall
upon the retreating host, which he routed and pursued to some distance.
The actual slaughter can scarcely have been great; but the prisoners and
the booty taken had to be surrendered; the prestige of victory was lost;
and the result appears to have been that the Mesopotamian monarch
relinquished his projects, and, contenting himself with the fame
acquired by such distant expeditions, made no further attempt to carry
his empire beyond the Euphrates.

The other three kings who may be assigned to the Elamitic dynasty are a
father, son, and grandson, whose names appear upon the native monuments
of Chaldaea in a position which is thought to imply that they were
posterior to the kings Urukh and Ilgi, but of greater antiquity than any
other monarchs who have left memorials in the country. Their names are
read as Sinti-shil-khak, Kudur-Mabuk, and Arid-Sin. Of Sinti-shil khak
nothing is known beyond the name. Kudur-Mabuk is said in the
inscriptions of his son to have "enlarged the dominions of the city of
Ur;" and on his own bricks he bears the title of Apda Martu, which
probably means "Conqueror of the West." We may presume therefore that
he was a warlike prince, like Kudur-Nakhunta and Kudur-Lagamer; and
that, like the latter of these two kings, he made war in the direction
of Syria, though he may not have carried his arms so far as his great
predecessor. He and his son both held their court at Ur, and, though of
foreign origin, maintained the Chaldaean religion unchanged, making
additions to the ancient temples, and worshipping the Chaldaean gods
under the old titles.

The circumstances which brought the Elamitic dynasty to a close