odden underfoot in the encounter. It
was the custom, therefore, to attack the beast by arrows, and to keep it
at a distance. If the animal were able to come up with its pursuer, the
latter endeavoured to seize it by the horn at the moment when it lowered
its head, and to drive his dagger into its neck. If the blow were
adroitly given it severed the spinal cord, and the beast fell in a heap
as if struck by lightning. A victory over such animals was an occasion
for rejoicing, and solemn thanks were offered to Assur and Ishtar, the
patrons of the chase, at the usual evening sacrifice.

[Illustration: 181.jpg A UBUS HUNT]

Drawn by Boudier, from a bas-relief in the British Museum.

The slain beasts, whether lion or urus, were arranged in a row
before the altar, while the king, accompanied by his flabella, and
umbrella-bearers, stood alongside them, holding his bow in his left
hand. While the singers intoned the hymn of thanksgiving to the
accompaniment of the harp, the monarch took the bowl of sacred wine,
touched his lips with it, and then poured a portion of the contents on
the heads of the victims. A detailed account of each hunting exploit was
preserved for posterity either in inscriptions or on bas-reliefs.*

* In the _Annals of Tiglath-pileser I._ the king counts the
number of his victims: 4 urus, 10 male elephants, 120 lions
slain in single combat on foot, 800 lions killed by arrows
let fly from his chariot. In the _Annals of Assurnazirpal,_
the king boasts of having slain 30 elephants, 250 urus, and
370 lions.

The chase was in those days of great service to the rural population;
the kings also considered it to be one of the duties attached to their
office, and on a level with their obligation to make war on neighbouring
nations devoted by the will of Assur to defeat and destruction.

[Illustration: 182.jpg LIBATION POURED OVER THE LIONS ON THE RETURN FROM
THE CHASE]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Hommel.

The army charged to carry out the will of the god had not yet acquired
the homogeneity and efficiency which it afterwards attained, yet it had
been for some time one of the most formidable in the world, and even
the Egyptians themselves, in spite of their long experience in military
matters, could not put into the field such a proud array of effective
troops. We do not know how this army was recruited, but the bulk of it
was made up of native levies, to wh