had slain "four wild bulls, strong and fierce," with his
arrows; while in the neighborhood of Harran, on the banks of the river
Khabour, he had killed ten large wild buffaloes (?), and taken four
alive. These captured animals he had carried with him on his return to
Asshur, his capital city, together with the horns and skins of the slain
beasts. The lions which he had destroyed in his various journeys he
estimates at 920. All these successes he ascribes to the powerful
protection of Nin and Nergal.

The royal historiographer proceeds, after this, to give an account of
his domestic administration, of the buildings which he had erected, and
the various improvements which he had introduced. Among the former he
mentions temples to Ishtar. Martu, Bel, Il or Ra, and the presiding
deities of the city of Asshur, palaces for his own use, and castles for
the protection of his territory. Among the latter he enumerates the
construction of works of irrigation, the introduction into Assyria of
foreign cattle and of numerous beasts of chase, the naturalization of
foreign vegetable products, the multiplication of chariots, the
extension of the territory, and the augmentation of the population of
the country.

A more particular account is then given of the restoration by the
monarch of two very ancient and venerable temples in the great city of
Asshur. This account is preceded by a formal statement of the
particulars of the monarch's descent from Ninpala-zira, the king who
seems to be regarded as the founder of the dynasty--which breaks the
thread of the narrative somewhat strangely and awkwardly. Perhaps the
occasion of its introduction was, in the mind of the writer, the
necessary mention, in connection with one of the two temples, of
Asshur-dayan, the great-grandfather of the monarch. It appears that in
the reign of Asshur-dayan, this temple, which, having stood for 641
years, was in a very ruinous condition, had been taken down, while no
fresh building had been raised in its room. The site remained vacant for
sixty years, till Tiglath-Pileser, having lately ascended the throne,
determined to erect on the spot a new temple to the old gods, who were
Anu and Vul, probably the tutelary deities of the city. His own account
of the circumstances of the building and dedication is as follows:--

"In the beginning of my reign, Anu and Vul, the great gods, my lords,
guardians of my steps, gave me a command to repair this their shrine. So
I