his
troops into Babylonia. For two consecutive years he wasted with fire and
sword the "upper" or northern provinces, taking the cities of
Kurri-Galzu--now Akkerkuf--Sippara of the Sun, and Sippara of Anunit
(the Sepharvaim or "two Sipparas" of the Hebrews), and Hupa or Opis, on
the Tigris; and finally capturing Babylon itself, which, strong as it
was, proved unable to resist the invader. On his return be passed up the
valley of the Euphrates, and took several cities from the Tsukhi. But
here, it would seem that he suffered a reverse. Merodach-iddiu-akhi, his
opponent, if he did not actually defeat his army, must, at any rate,
have greatly harassed it on its retreat; for he captured an important
part of its baggage. Indulging a superstition common in ancient times,
Tiglath-Pileser had carried with him in his expedition certain images of
gods, whose presence would, it was thought, secure victory to his arms.
Merodach-iddiu akhi obtained possession of these idols, and succeeded in
carrying them off to Babylon, where they were preserved for more than
400 years, and considered as mementoes of victory.

The latter days of this great Assyrian prince were thus, unhappily,
clouded by disaster. Neither he, nor his descendants, nor any Assyrian
monarch for four centuries succeeded in recovering the lost idols, and
replacing them in the shrines from which they were taken. A hostile and
jealous spirit appears henceforth in the relations between Assyria and
Babylon; we find no more intermarriages of the one royal house with the
other; wars are frequent--almost constant--nearly every Assyrian
monarch, whose history is known to us in any detail, conducting at least
one expedition into Babylonia.

A work still remains, belonging to the reign of this king, from which it
appears that the peculiar character of Assyrian mimetic art was already
fixed in his time, the style of representation being exactly such as
prevailed at the most flourishing period, and the workmanship,
apparently, not very inferior. In a cavern from which the Tsupnat river
or eastern branch of the Tigris rises, close to a village called
Korkhar, and about fifty or sixty miles north of Drarbekr, is a
bas-relief sculptured on the natural rock, which has been smoothed for
the purpose, consisting of a figure of the king in his sacerdotal dress
with the right arm extended and the left hand grasping the sacrificial
mace, accompanied by an inscription which is read as follow