enemies of the Armenians.

In the confusion which ensued, Tushratta was murdered by Sutarna II,
who was recognized by Subbi-luliuma. The crown prince, Mattiuza, fled
to Babylon, where he found protection, but was unable to receive any
assistance. Ultimately, when the Hittite emperor had secured his sway
over northern Syria, he deposed Sutarna II and set Mattiuza as his
vassal on the throne of the shrunken Mitanni kingdom.

Meanwhile the Egyptian empire in Asia had gone to pieces. When
Akhenaton, the dreamer king, died in his palace at Tell-el-Amarna, the
Khabiri were conquering the Canaanite cities which had paid him
tribute, and the Hittite ruler was the acknowledged overlord of the
Amorites.

The star of Assyria was also in the ascendant. Its king,
Ashur-uballit, who had corresponded with Akhenaton, was, like the
Hittite king, Subbi-luliuma, a distinguished statesman and general,
and similarly laid the foundations of a great empire. Before or after
Subbi-luliuma invaded Tushratta's domains, he drove the Mitannians out
of Nineveh, and afterwards overcame the Shubari tribes of Mitanni on
the north-west, with the result that he added a wide extent of
territory to his growing empire.

He had previously thrust southward the Assyro-Babylonian frontier. In
fact, he had become so formidable an opponent of Babylonia that his
daughter had been accepted as the wife of Karakhardash, the Kassite
king of that country. In time his grandson, Kadashman-Kharbe, ascended
the Babylonian throne. This young monarch co-operated with his
grandfather in suppressing the Suti, who infested the trade routes
towards the west, and plundered the caravans of merchants and the
messengers of great monarchs with persistent impunity.

A reference to these bandits appears in one of the Tell-el-Amarna
letters. Writing to Akhenaton, Ashur-uballit said: "The lands (of
Assyria and Egypt) are remote, therefore let our messengers come and
go. That your messengers were late in reaching you, (the reason is
that) if the Suti had waylaid them, they would have been dead men. For
if I had sent them, the Suti would have sent bands to waylay them;
therefore I have retained them. My messengers (however), may they not
(for this reason) be delayed."[301]

Ashur-uballit's grandson extended his Babylonian frontier into Amurru,
where he dug wells and erected forts to protect traders. The Kassite
aristocracy, however, appear to have entertained towards him a strong