cliffs and beds of torrents; difficult and dangerous
at ordinary times, they were blocked in war by temporary barricades, and
dominated at every turn by some fortress perched at a dizzy height above
them. After his return to the camp, where his soldiers were allowed
a short respite, Assur-nazir-pal set out against Zamru, though he was
careful not to approach it directly and attack it at its most formidable
points. Between two peaks of the Lara and Bidirgi ranges he discovered a
path which had been deemed impracticable for horses, or even for heavily
armed men. By this route, the king, unsuspected by the enemy, made his
way through the mountains, and descended so unexpectedly upon Zamru,
that Amika had barely time to make his escape, abandoning everything in
his alarm--palace, treasures, harem, and even his chariot.* A body of
Assyrians pursued him hotly beyond the fords of the Lallu, chasing him
as far as Mount Itini; then, retracing their steps to headquarters, they
at once set out on a fresh track, crossed the Idir, and proceeded to lay
waste the plains of Ilaniu and Suani.**

* This raid, which started from the same point as the
preceding one, ran eastwards in an opposite direction and
ended at Mount Itini. Leaving the fief of Arashtua in the
neighbourhood of Suleimaniyeh, Assur-nazir-pal crossed the
chain of the Azmir-dagh near Pir-Omar and Gudrun, where we
must place Mounts Lara and Bidirgi, and emerged upon Zamru;
the only-places which appear to correspond to Zamru in that
region are Kandishin and Suleimanabad. Hence the Lallu is
the river which runs by Kandishin and Suleimanabad, and
Itini the mountain which separates this river from the
Tchami-Kizildjik.

** I think we may recognise the ancient name of Ilaniu in
that of Alan, now borne by a district on the Turkish and
Persian frontier, situated between Kunekd ji-dagh and the
town of Serdesht. The expedition, coming from the fief of
Arashtua, must have marched northwards: the Idir in this
case must be the Tchami-Kizildjik, and Mount Sabua the chain
of mountains above Serdesht.

Despairing of taking Amika prisoner, Assur-nazir-pal allowed him to lie
hidden among the brushwood of Mount Sabua, while he himself called
a halt at Parsindu,* and set to work to organise the fruits of his
conquest.

* Parsindu, mentioned between Mount Ilaniu and the town of
Zamru, ou