cult to
defend as long as the mountain tribes remained unsubdued, or perhaps the
Elamites themselves were not so completely demoralised as he was pleased
to describe them in his inscriptions, and the attacks of their irregular
troops would have rendered the prolonged sojourn of the Assyrian
garrison difficult, if not impossible. Whatever the reason, as soon as
the work of pillage was fully accomplished, the army continued its
march towards the frontier, carrying with it the customary spoil of the
captured towns, and their whole population, or all, at least, who had
not fled at the approach of the enemy. The king reserved for himself
the archers and pikemen, whom he incorporated into his own bodyguard,
as well as the artisans, smelters, sculptors, and stonemasons, whose
talents he turned to account in the construction and decoration of his
palaces; the remainder of the inhabitants he apportioned, like so many
sheep, to the cities and the temples, governors of provinces, officers
of state, military chiefs, and private soldiers. Khumban-khaldash
reoccupied Susa after the Assyrians had quitted it, but the misery there
was so great that he could not endure it: he therefore transferred his
court to Madaktu, one of the royal cities which had suffered least from
the invasion, and he there tried to establish a regular government.
Rival claimants to the throne had sprung up, but he overcame them
without much difficulty: one of them, named Pae, took refuge in Assyria,
joining Tammaritn and that little band of dethroned kings or pretenders
to the throne of Susa, of whom Assur-bani-pal had so adroitly made
use to divide the forces of his adversary. Khumban-khaldash might well
believe that the transportation of the statue of Nana and the sack of
Susa had satisfied the vengeance of the Assyrians, at least for a time,
and that they would afford him a respite, however short; but he had
reckoned without taking into consideration the hatred which had pursued
Nabo-bel-shumi during so many years: an envoy followed him as far as
Madaktu, and offered Khumban-khaldash once more the choice between the
extradition of the Chaldean or the immediate reopening of hostilities.
He seems to have had a moment's hesitation, but when Nabo-bel-shumi was
informed of the terms offered by the envoy, "life had no more value in
his eyes: he desired death." He ordered his shield-bearer to slay him,
and when the man refused to do so, declaring that he could not liv