and
attention. It would seem that the Assyrian dominion had by this time
spread so far to the north that the situation of Asshur (or
Kileh-Sherghat) was no longer sufficiently central for the capital. The
seat of government was consequently moved forty miles further up the
river. At the same time it was transferred from the west bank to the
east, and placed in the fertile region of Adiabene, near the junction of
the Greater Zab with the Tigris. Here, in a strong and healthy position,
on a low spur from the Jebel Maklub, protected on either side by a deep
river, the new capital grew to greatness. Palace after palace rose on
its lofty platform, rich with carved woodwork, gilding, painting,
sculpture, and enamel, each aiming to outshine its predecessors; while
stone lions, sphinxes, obelisks, shrines,and temple-towers embellished
the scene, breaking its monotonous sameness by variety. The lofty
_ziggurat_ attached to the temple of Nin or Hercules, dominating over
the whole, gave unity to the vast mass of palatial and sacred edifices.
The Tigris, skirting the entire western base of the mound, glassed the
whole in its waves, and, doubling the apparent height, rendered less
observable the chief weakness of the architecture. When the setting sun
lighted up the view with the gorgeous hues seen only under an eastern
sky, Calah must have seemed to the traveller who beheld it for the first
time like a vision from fairy-land.

After reigning gloriously for twenty-five years, from B.C. 883 to B.C.
858, this great prince--"the conqueror" (as he styles himself), "from
the upper passage of the Tigris to Lebanon and the Great Sea, who has
reduced under his authority all countries from the rising of the sun to
the going down of the same"--died, probably at no very advanced age, and
left his throne to his son, who bore the name of Shalmaneser.

Shalmaneser II., the son of Asshur-izir-pal, who may probably have been
trained to arms under his father, seems to have inherited to the full
his military spirit, and to have warred with at least as much success
against his neighbors. His reign was extended to the unusual length of
thirty-five years, during which time he conducted in person no fewer
than twenty-three military expeditions, besides entrusting three or four
others to a favorite general. It would be a wearisome task to follow out
in detail these numerous and generally uninteresting campaigns, where
invasion, battle, flight, siege, su