Western Asia had every appearance of permanence. Although
Elam no longer troubled Babylon, a great danger arose from a new and
unexpected quarter. In the Country of the Sea--which comprised the
districts in the extreme south of Babylonia on the shores of the Persian
Gulf--the Sumerians had rallied their forces, and they now declared
themselves independent of Babylonian control. A period of conflict
followed between the kings of the First Dynasty and the kings of the
Country of the Sea, in which the latter more than held their own; and,
when the Hittite tribes of Syria invaded Northern Babylonia in the reign
of Samsu-ditana, Babylon's power of resistance was so far weakened that
she fell an easy prey to the rulers of the Country of the Sea. But the
reappearance of the Sumerians in the role of leading race in Western
Asia was destined not to last long, and was little more than the last
flicker of vitality exhibited by this ancient and exhausted race. Thus
the Second Dynasty fell in its turn before the onslaught of the Kassite
tribes who descended from the mountainous districts in the west of Elam,
and, having overrun the whole of Mesopotamia, established a new dynasty
at Babylon, and adopted Babylonian civilization.

With the advent of the Kassite kings a new chapter opens in the history
of Western Asia. Up to that time Egypt and Babylon, the two chief
centres of ancient civilization, had no doubt indirectly influenced one
another, but they had not come into actual contact. During the period of
the Kassite kings both Babylon and Assyria established direct relations
with Egypt, and from that time forward the influence they exerted upon
one another was continuous and unbroken. We have already traced the
history of Babylon up to this point in the light of recent discoveries,
and a similar task awaits us with regard to Assyria. Before we enter
into a discussion of Assyria's origin and early history in the light of
recent excavation and research, it is necessary that we should return
once more to Egypt, and describe the course of her history from the
period when Thebes succeeded in displacing Memphis as the capital city.

CHAPTER VII

TEMPLES AND TOMBS OF THEBES

We have seen that it was in the Theban period that Egypt emerged from
her isolation, and for the first time came into contact with Western
Asia. This grand turning-point in Egyptian history seemed to be the
appropriate place at which to pause in the descript