into ruins, may
a future prince repair the damaged parts thereof, and may he anoint my
memorial tablet with oil, and may he offer sacrifices and restore
it unto its place, and then Ashur will hearken unto his prayers. But
whosoever shall destroy this wall, or shall remove my memorial tablet or
my name that is inscribed thereon, or shall leave Kar-Tukulti-Ninib, the
city of my dominion, desolate, or shall destroy it, may the lord Ashur
overthrow his kingdom, and may he break his weapons, and may he cause
his warriors to be defeated, and may he diminish his boundaries, and may
he ordain that his rule shall be cut off, and on his days may he bring
sorrow, and his years may he make evil, and may he blot out his name and
his seed from the land!"

By such blessings and curses Tukulti-Ninib hoped to ensure the
preservation of his name and the rebuilding of his city, should it at
any time be neglected and fall into decay. Curiously enough, it was in
this very city that Tukulti-Ninib met his own fate less than seven years
after he had founded it. At that time one of his own sons, who bore the
name of Ashur-nasir-pal, conspired against his father and stirred up the
nobles to revolt. The insurrection was arranged when Tukulti-Ninib was
absent from his capital and staying in Kar-Tukulti-Ninib, where he was
probably protected by only a small bodyguard, the bulk of his veteran
warriors remaining behind in garrison at Ashur. The insurgent nobles,
headed by Ashur-nasir-pal, fell upon the king without warning when
he was passing through the city without any suspicion of risk from a
treacherous attack. The king defended himself and sought refuge in a
neighbouring house, but the conspirators surrounded the building and,
having forced an entrance, slew him with the sword. Thus Tukulti-Ninib
perished in the city he had built and beautified with the spoils of his
campaigns, where he had looked forward to passing a peaceful and secure
old age. Of the fate of the city itself we know little except that its
site is marked to-day by a few mounds which rise slightly above the
level of the surrounding desert. The king's memorial tablet only has
survived. For some 3,200 years it rested undisturbed in the foundations
of the wall of unburnt brick, where it was buried by Tukulti-Ninib on
the completion of the city wall.

[Illustration: 408.jpg Stone Tablet. Bearing an inscription of
Tukulti-Ninib I]

King of Assyria, about B. C. 1275.

Thence