he throne his son Menuas, and made
him commander-in-chief of the army. Menuas proved a bold and successful
general, and in a few years had doubled the extent of his dominions. He
first delivered from the Assyrian yoke, and plundered on his father's
account, the tribes on the borders of Lake Urumiah, Muzazir, Gilzan, and
Kirruri; then, crossing the Gordygean mountains, he burnt the towns in
the valley of the Upper Zab, which bore the uncouth names of Terais,
Ardis, Khanalis, Bikuras, Khatqanas, Inuas, and Nibur, laid waste the
more fertile part of Khubushkia, and carved triumphal stelas in the
Assyrian and Vannic scripts upon the rocks in the pass of Rowandiz.

[Illustration: 156.jpg TRIUMPHAL STELE OF MENUAS AT KELISHIN]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by J. de Morgan.

It was probably to recover this territory that Ramman-nirari waged war
three times in Khubushkia, in 802, 792, and 785, in a district which had
formerly been ruled by a prefect from Nineveh, but had now fallen into
the hands of the enemy.*

* It is probable that the stele of Kelishin, belonging to
the joint reign of Ishpuinis and Menuas, was intended to
commemorate the events which led Ramman-nirari to undertake
his first expedition; the conquest by Menuas will fall then
in 804 or 803 B.C. The inscription of Meher-Kapussi contains
the names of the divinities belonging to several conquered
towns, and may have been engraved on the return from this
war.

Everywhere along the frontier, from the Lower Zab to the Euphrates,
Menuas overpowered and drove back the Assyrian outposts. He took from
them Aldus and Erinuis on the southern shores of Lake Van, compelled
Dayaini to abandon its allegiance, and forced its king, Udhupursis, to
surrender his treasure and his chariots; then gradually descending the
valley of the Arzania, he crushed Seseti, Kulme, and Ekarzu. In one year
he pillaged the Mannai in the east, and attacked the Khati in the west,
seizing their fortresses of Surisilis, Tarkhigamas, and Sarduras; in
the province of Alzu he left 2113 soldiers dead on the field after one
engagement; Gupas yielded to his sway, followed by the towns of Khuzanas
and Puteria, whereupon he even crossed the Euphrates and levied tribute
from Melitene. But the struggle against Assyria absorbed only a portion
of his energy; we do not know what he accomplished in the east, in
the plains sloping towards the Caspian Sea,