supremacy in Egypt was finally extinguished, and Psamtik, son of
Necho, who was appointed the Pharaoh, began to reign as the vassal of
Assyria.

When the kings on the seacoasts of Palestine and Asia Minor found that
they could no longer look to Egypt for help, they resigned themselves
to the inevitable, and ceased to intrigue against Assyria. Gifts were
sent to Ashur-bani-pal by the kings of Arvad, Tyre, Tarsus, and Tabal.
The Arvad ruler, however, was displaced, and his son set on his
throne. But the most extraordinary development was the visit to
Nineveh of emissaries from Gyges, king of Lydia, who figures in the
legends of Greece. This monarch had been harassed by the Cimmerians
after they accomplished the fall of Midas of Phrygia in 676 B.C., and
he sought the help of Ashur-bani-pal. It is not known whether the
Assyrians operated against the Cimmerians in Tabal, but, as Gyges did
not send tribute, it would appear that he held his own with the aid of
mercenaries from the State of Caria in southwestern Asia Minor. The
Greeks of Cilicia, and the Achaeans and Phoenicians of Cyprus remained
faithful to Assyria.

Elam gave trouble in 665 B.C. by raiding Akkad, but the Assyrian army
repulsed the invaders at Dur-ilu and pushed on to Susa. The Elamites
received a crushing defeat in a battle on the banks of the River Ula.
King Teumman was slain, and a son of the King of Urtagu was placed on
his throne. Elam thus came under Assyrian sway.

The most surprising and sensational conspiracy against Ashur-bani-pal
was fomented by his brother Shamash-shum-ukin of Babylon, after the
two had co-operated peacefully for fifteen years. No doubt the
priestly party at E-sagila were deeply concerned in the movement, and
the king may have been strongly influenced by the fact that Babylonia
was at the time suffering from severe depression caused by a series of
poor harvests. Merodach, according to the priests, was angry; it was
probably argued that he was punishing the people because they had not
thrown off the yoke of Assyria.

The temple treasures of Babylon were freely drawn upon to purchase the
allegiance of allies. Ere Ashur-bani-pal had any knowledge of the
conspiracy his brother had won over several governors in Babylonia,
the Chaldaeans, Aramaeans and Elamites, and many petty kings in
Palestine and Syria: even Egypt and Libya were prepared to help him.
When, however, the faithful governor of Ur was approached, he
communicated wi