uccess, and
yielding it an easy prey to the wiles of its adversaries.*

* The information we possess concerning Esarhaddon is
gathered from: 1. _The Insertion of Cylinders A, B, C_, the
second of the three better known as the _Broken Cylinder_.
These texts contain a summary of the king's wars, in which
the subject-matter is arranged geographically, not
chronologically: they cease with the _eponymy_ of Akhazilu,
i.e. the year 673. 2. Some mutilated fragments, of the
_Annals_. 3. _The Blade Stone of Aberdeen_, on which the
account of the rebuilding of Babylon is given. 4. _The Stele
of Zindjirli_. 5. The consultations of the god Shamash by
Esarhaddon in different circumstances of his reign. 6. A
considerable number of small inscriptions and some tablets.
The classification of the events of this reign presents
serious difficulties, which have been partly overcome by
passages in the _Babylonian Chronicle of Pinches_.

Esarhaddon was personally inclined for peace, and as soon as he was
established on the throne he gave orders that the building works, which
had been suspended during the late troubles, should be resumed and
actively pushed forward; but the unfortunate disturbances of the
times did not permit of his pursuing his favourite occupation without
interruption, and, like those of his warlike predecessors, his life was
passed almost entirely on the field of battle. Babylon, grateful for
what he had done for her, tendered him an unbroken fidelity throughout
the stormy episodes of his reign, and showed her devotion to him by an
unwavering obedience. The Kalda received no support from that quarter,
and were obliged to bear the whole burden of the war which they had
provoked. Their chief, Nabu-ziru-kinish-lishir, who had been placed
over them by Sennacherib, now harassed the cities of Karduniash, and
Ningal-shumiddin, the prefect of Uru, demanded immediate help from
Assyria. Esarhaddon at once despatched such a considerable force that
the Kaldu chief did not venture to meet it in the open field, and after
a few unimportant skirmishes he gave up the struggle, and took refuge in
Elam. Khumban-khaldash, had died there in 680, a few months before
the murder of Sennacherib, and his son, a second Khumban-khaldash, had
succeeded him; this prince appears either to have shared the peaceful
tastes of his brother-king of Assyria, or more probably did not fee