* We have no direct testimony in support of this hypothesis,
but several important considerations give it probability. As
no tribute from Babylon is mentioned in the Annals of
Thûtmosis III., we must place the beginning of the
relations between Egypt and Chaldæa at a later date. On the
other hand, Burnaburiash II., in a letter written to
Amenôthes III., cites Karaîndash as the first of his
fathers, who had established friendly relations with the
fathers of the Pharaoh, a fact which obliges us to place
the interchange of presents before the time of Amenôthes
III.: as the reigns of Amenôthes II. and of Thûtmosis IV.
were both short, it is probable that these relations began
in the latter years of Thûtmosis III.
The remoteness of Egypt from the Babylonian frontier no doubt relieved Karaîndash from any apprehension of an actual invasion by the Pharaohs; but there was the possibility of their subsidising some nearer enemy, and also of forbidding Babylonish caravans to enter Egyptian provinces, and thus crippling Chaldæan commerce. Friendly relations, when once established, soon necessitated a constant interchange of embassies and letters between the Nile and the Euphrates. As a matter of fact, the Babylonian king could never reconcile himself to the idea that Syria had passed out of his hands. While pretending to warn the Pharaoh of Syrian plots against him,* the Babylonians were employing at the same time secret agents, to go from city to city and stir up discontent at Egyptian rule, praising the while the great Cosssean king and his armies, and inciting to revolt by promises of help never meant to be fulfilled. Assyria, whose very existence would have been endangered by the re-establishment of a Babylonian empire, never missed an opportunity of denouncing these intrigues at head-quarters: they warned the royal messengers and governors of them, and were constantly contrasting the frankness and honesty of their own dealings with the duplicity of their rival.
* This was done by Kurigalzu I., according to a letter
addressed by his son Burnaburiash to Amenôthes IV.
This state of affairs lasted for more than half a century, during which time both courts strove to ingratiate themselves in the favour of the Pharaoh, each intriguing for the exclusion of the other, by exchanging presents with him, by congratulations on his accession, by imploring gifts of wrought or unwrought gold, and by offering him the most beautiful women of their family for his harem. The son of Karaîndash, whose name still remains to be discovered, bestowed one of his daughters on the young Amenôthes III.: Kallimasin, the sovereign who succeeded him, also sent successively two princesses to the same Pharaoh. But the underlying bitterness and hatred would break through the veneer of polite formula and protestations when the petitioner received, as the result of his advances, objects of inconsiderable value such as a lord might distribute to his vassals, or when he was refused a princess of solar blood, or even an Egyptian bride of some feudal house; at such times, however, an ironical or haughty epistle from Thebes would recall him to a sense of his own inferiority.
As a fact, the lot of the Cossæan sovereigns does not appear to have been a happy one, in spite of the variety and pomposity of the titles which they continued to assume. They enjoyed but short lives, and we know that at least three or four of them—Kallimasin, Burnaburiash I., and Kurigalzu I. ascended the throne in succession during the forty years that Amenôthes III. ruled over Egypt and Syria.*
* The copy we possess of the Royal Canon of Babylon is
mutilated at this point, and the original documents are not
sufficiently complete to fill the gap. About two or three
names are missing after that of Agumkakrimê, and the reigns
must have been very short, if indeed, as I think, Agumka-
krimî and Karaîndash were both contemporaries of the earlier
Pharaohs bearing the name of Thûtmosis. The order of the
names which have come down to us is not indisputably
established. The following order appears to me to be the
most probable at present:—
Karaîndash. Kallimasin. Burnaburiash I. Kurigalzu I.
Burnaburiash II. Karakhardash. Kadashmankiiarbê I.
Nazibugas II.. Kurigalzu II. Nazimaruttasii. Kadashmanturgu.
This is, with a slight exception, the classification adopted
by Winckler, and that of Hilprecht differs from it only in
the intercalation of Kudurturgu and Shagaraktiburiash
between Burnaburiash II. and Karakhardash.
Perhaps the rapidity of this succession may have arisen from some internal revolution or from family disturbances. The Chaldæans of the old stock reluctantly rendered obedience to these Cosssean kings, and, if we may judge from the name, one at least of these ephemeral sovereigns, Kallimasin, appears to have been a Semite, who owed his position among the Cossoan princes to some fortunate chance. A few rare inscriptions stamped on bricks, one or two letters or documents of private interest, and some minor objects from widely distant spots, have enabled us to ascertain the sites upon which these sovereigns erected buildings; Karaîndash restored the temple of Nana at Uruk, Burnaburiash and Kurigalzu added to that of Shamash at Larsam, and Kurigalzu took in hand that of Sin at Uru. We also possess a record of some of their acts in the fragments of a document, which a Mnevite scribe of the time of Assurbanipal had compiled, or rather jumbled together,* from certain Babylonian chronicles dealing with the wars against Assyria and Elam, with public treaties, marriages, and family quarrels. We learn from this, for example, that Burnaburiash I. renewed with Buzurassur the conventions drawn up between Karaîndash and Assurbelnishishu. These friendly relations were maintained, apparently, under Kurigalzu I. and Assur-nadin-akhi, the son of Buzurassur;** if Kurigalzu built or restored the fortress, long called after him Dur-Kurigalzu,*** at one of the fords of the Narmalka, it was probably as a precautionary measure rather than because of any immediate danger. The relations between the two powers became somewhat strained when Burnaburiash II. and Assuruballît had respectively succeeded to Kurigalzu and Assur-nadin-akhi; **** this did not, however, lead to hostilities, and the subsequent betrothal of Karakhardash, son of Burnaburiash II., to Mubauîtatseruâ, daughter of Assuruballît, tended to restore matters to their former condition.
* This is what is generally called the “Synchronous
History,” the principal remains of which were discovered and
published by H. Rawlinson. It is a very unskilful
complication, in which Winckler has discovered several
blunders.
** Assur-nadin-akhi I. is mentioned in a Tel el-Amarna
tablet as being the father of Assuruballît.
*** This is the present Akerkuf, as is proved by the
discovery of bricks bearing the name of Kurigalzu; but
perhaps what I have attributed to Kurigalzu I. must be
referred to the second king of that name.
**** We infer this from the way in which Burnaburiash speaks
of the Assyrians in the correspondence with Amenôthes IV.
The good will between the two countries became still more pronounced when Kadashmankharbê succeeded his father Karakhardash. The Cossæan soldiery had taken umbrage at his successor and had revolted, assassinated Kadashmankharbê, and proclaimed king in his stead a man of obscure origin named Nazibùgash. Assuruballît, without a moment’s hesitation, took the side of his new relatives; he crossed the frontier, killed Nazibugash, and restored the throne to his sister’s child, Kurigalzu II., the younger. The young king, who was still a minor at his accession, appears to have met with no serious difficulties; at any rate, none were raised by his Assyrian cousins, Belnirârî I. and his successor Budîlu.*
* The Synchronous History erroneously places the events of
the reign of Rammân-nirâri in that of Belnirârî. The order
of succession of Buzurassur, Assuruballît, Belnirârî, and
Budîlu, has been established by the bricks of Kalah-Shergât.