h-nalkunta I.; the princes of Malamir--The first
encounter of Assyria and Elam, the battle of Durilu (721 B.C.)--Revolt
of Syria, Iaubidi of Hamath and Hannon of Gaza--Bocchoris and the XXIVth
Egyptian dynasty; the first encounter of Assyria with Egypt, the battle
of Raphia (720 B.C.)._

_Urartu and the coalition of the peoples of the north-east and
north-west--Defeat of Zikartu (719 B.C.), of the Tabal (718), of the
Khati (717), of the Mannai, of the Medes and Ellipi (716), and of the
Modes (715)--Commencement of XXVth Ethiopian dynasty: Sabaco (716)--
The fall of Urzana and Rusas (714) and the formation of an Assyrian
province in Cappadocia (713-710)--The revolt and fall of Ashdod._

_The defeat of Merodach-baladan and of Shutruk-nakhunta II.: Sargon
conquers Babylon (710-709 B.C.)--Success of the Assyrians at Mushhi:
homage of the Greeks of Cyprus (710)--The buildings of Sargon:
Dur-sharrukin--The gates and walls of Dur-sharrukin; the city and
its population--The royal palace, its courts, the ziggurat,
the harem--Revolt of Kummukh (709 B.C.) and of Ellipi (708
B.C.)--Inauguration of Dur-sharrukin (706 B.C.)--Murder of Sargon (705
B.C.): his character._

[Illustration: 339.jpg PAGE IMAGE]

CHAPTER III--SARGON OF ASSYRIA (722-705 B.C.)

_Sargon as a warrior and as a builder._

Whether Sargon was even remotely connected with the royal line, is a
question which for the present must remain unanswered. He mentions in
one of his inscriptions the three hundred princes who had preceded him
in the government of Assyria, and three lines further on he refers to
the kings his ancestors, but he never mentions his own father by name,
and this omission seems to prove that he was not a direct descendant of
Shalmaneser V., nor of Tiglath-pileser III. nor indeed of any of their
immediate predecessors. It is, however, probable, if not certain, that
he could claim some sort of kinship with them, though more or less
remote. It was customary for the sovereigns of Nineveh to give their
daughters in marriage to important officials or lords of their court,
and owing to the constant contraction of such alliances through several
centuries, there was hardly a noble family but had some royal blood in
its veins; and that of Sargon was probably no exception to the rule.
His genealogy was traced by the chroniclers, through several hundred
generations of princes, to the semi-mythical heroes who had founded the
city of Assur; but as