he
effect of the battle in Northern Syria and among the recently annexed
Aiamoan tribes was very great; they began to doubt the omnipotence of
Assyria, and their loyalty was shaken. Sangar of Carchemish and the
Khati refused to pay their tribute, and the Emirs of Tul-Abni and Mount
Kashiari broke out into open revolt. Shalmaneser spent a whole year in
suppressing the insurrection; complications, moreover, arose at Babylon
which obliged him to concentrate his attention and energy on Chaldaean
affairs. Nabu-baliddin had always maintained peaceful and friendly
relations with Assyria, but he had been overthrown, or perhaps
assassinated, and his son Marduk-nadin-shumu had succeeded him on the
throne, to the dissatisfaction of a section of his subjects. Another son
of Nabu-baliddin, Marduk-belusate, claimed the sovereign power, and soon
won over so much of the country that Marduk-nadin-shumu had fears
for the safety of Babylon itself. He then probably remembered the
pretensions to Kharduniash, which his Assyrian neighbours had for a long
time maintained, and applied to Shalmaneser to support his tottering
fortunes. The Assyrian monarch must have been disposed to lend a
favourable ear to a request which allowed him to intervene as suzerain
in the quarrels of the rival kingdom: he mobilised his forces, offered
sacrifices in honour of Bamman at Zaban, and crossed the frontier in 853
B.C.*

The war dragged on during the next two years. The scene of hostilities
was at the outset on the left bank of the Tigris, which for ten
centuries had served as the battle-field for the warriors of both
countries. Shalmaneser, who had invested Me-Turnat at the fords of the
Lower Diyalah, at length captured that fortress, and after having
thus isolated the rebels of Babylonia proper, turned his steps towards
G-ananate.**

* The town of Zaban is situated on the Lesser Zab, but it is
impossible to fix the exact site.

** Me-Turnat, Me-Turni, "the water of the Turnat," stood
upon the Diyalah, probably near the site of Bakuba, where
the most frequented route crosses the river; perhaps we may
identify it with the Artemita of classical authors. Gananate
must be sought higher up near the mountains, as the context
points out; I am inclined to place it near the site of
Khanekin, whose gardens are still celebrated, and the
strategic importance of which is considerable.

Marduk-belusate, "a vacillating