nister Shutsururazi, stand quietly waiting till the
sacrifice is accomplished. The long text which runs across several of
the figures is doubtless a prayer, and contains the names of peoples and
princes mingled with those of deities.

* Perrot and Chipiez, misled by the analogy of the Hittite
bas-relief at Ibriz, took the largest figure for the image
of a god. The inscription engraved on the robe, _U Khanni
shak Takkhi-khikutur_, "I am Khanni, son of Takhkhi-
khikhutur," leaves no doubt that the figure represents the
prince himself, and not a divinity.

The memory of these provincial chiefs would be revived, and more of
their monuments discovered, if the mountains and inaccessible valleys of
ancient Elam could be thoroughly explored: it is evident, from the small
portion of their history which has been brought to light, that they must
have been great sources of trouble to the dynasties which reigned in
Susa, and that their revolts must often have jeopardised the safety of
the empire, in spite of the assistance afforded by the Aramaeans from
the tenth or eleventh centuries onwards. All the semi-nomadic tribes
which densely peopled the banks of the Tigris, and whose advance towards
the north had been temporarily favoured by the weakness of Assyria--the
Gambulu, the Pukudu, the Eutu, and the Itua--had a natural tendency to
join forces with Elam for the purpose of raiding the wealthy cities of
Chaldaea, and this alliance, or subjection, as it might be more properly
termed, always insured them against any reprisals on the part of their
victims. The unknown king who dwelt at Susa in 745 B.C. committed the
error of allowing Tiglath-pileser to crush these allies. Khumban-igash,
who succeeded this misguided monarch in 742 B.C., did not take up arms
to defend Bit-Amuk-kani and the other states of the Kalda from 731 to
729, but experience must have taught him that he had made a mistake
in remaining an unmoved spectator of their misfortunes; for when
Merodach-baladan, in quest of allies, applied to him, he unhesitatingly
promised him his support.*

* The date of his accession is furnished by the passage in
_Pinches' Babylonian Chronicle_, where it is stated that he
ascended the throne of Elam in the fifth year of Nabonazir.
The Assyrian and Babylonian scribes assimilated the Susian
_b_ to the _m_, and also suppressed the initial aspirate of
the Elamite name, writing gen