in.

From Assur the movement spread to Arrapkha, and wrought havoc there
from 761 to 760; it then passed on to Gozan, where it was not finally
extinguished till 758. The last remains of Assyrian authority in
Syria vanished during this period: Assurdan, after two years' respite,
endeavoured to re-establish it, and attacked successively Hadrach (755)
and Arpad (754). This was his last exploit. His son Assur-nirari III.
spent his short reign of eight years in helpless inaction; he lost
Syria, he carried on hostilities in Namri from 749 to 748--whether
against the Aramaeans or Urartians is uncertain--then relapsed into
inactivity, and a popular sedition drove him finally from Calah in 746.
He died some months later, without having repressed the revolt; none of
his sons succeeded him, and the dynasty, having fallen into disrepute
through the misfortunes of its last kings, thus came to an end; for,
on the 12th of Iyyar, 742 B.C., a usurper, perhaps, the leader of
the revolt at Calah, proclaimed himself king under the name of
Tiglath-pileser.* The second Assyrian empire had lasted rather less than
a century and a half, from Tukulti-ninip II. to Assur-nirari III.**

* Many historians have thought that Tiglath-pileser III. was
of Babylonian origin; most of them, however, rightly
considers that he was an Assyrian. The identity of Tiglath-
pileser III. with Pulu, the Biblical Pul (2 Kings xv. 19)
has been conclusively proved by the discovery of the
_Babylonian Chronicle_, where the Babylonian reigns of
Tiglath-pileser III. and his son Shalmaneser V. are inserted
where the dynastic lists give Pulu and Ululai, the Poros and
Eluloos of Ptolemy.

** Here is the concluding portion of the dynasty of the
kings of Assyria, from Irba-ramman to Assur-nirari III.:--

[Illustration: 169.jpg TABLE OF THE DYNASTY OF THE KINGS OF ASSYRIA]

In the manner in which it had accomplished its work, it resembled the
Egyptian empire of eight hundred years before. The Egyptians, setting
forth from the Nile valley, had overrun Syria and had at first brought
it under their suzerainty, though without actually subduing it. They had
invaded Amurru and Zahi, Naharaim and Mitanni, where they had pillaged,
burnt, and massacred at will for years, without obtaining from these
countries, which were too remote to fall naturally within their sphere
of influence, more than a temporary and apparent submission;