Drawn by Faucher-
Gudin, from the
photograph in
Luschan.
These deities were mostly of the Assyrian type, and if one may draw any conclusion from the few representations of them already discovered, their rites must have been celebrated in a manner similar to that followed in the cities on the Lower Euphrates. Scarcely any signs of Egyptian influence survived, though here and there a trace of it might be seen in the figures of calf or bull, the vulture of Mut or the sparrow-hawk of Horus. Assur-nazir-pal, marching from the banks of the Khabur to Bît-Adini, and from Bît-Adini passing on to Northern Syria, might almost have imagined himself still in his own dominions, so gradual and imperceptible were the changes in language and civilisation in the country traversed between Nineveh and Assur, Tul-Barsip and Samalla.
His expedition was unattended by danger or bloodshed. Lubarna, the reigning prince of the Patina, was possibly at that juncture meditating the formation of a Syrian empire under his rule. Unki, in which lay his capital of Kunulua, was one of the richest countries of Asia,* being well watered by the Afrin, Orontes, and Saluara;** no fields produced such rich harvests as his, no meadows pastured such cattle or were better suited to the breeding of war-horses.
* The Unki of the Assyrians, the Uniuqa of the Egyptians, is
the valley of Antioch, the Amk of the present day. Kunulua
or Kinalia, the capital of the Patina, has been identified
with the Gindaros of Greek times; I prefer to identify it
with the existing Tell-Kunâna, written for Tell-Kunâla by
the common substitution of n for l at the end of proper
names.
** The Saluara of the Assyrian texts is the present Kara-su,
which flows into the Ak-Denîz, the lake of Antioch.
Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the impression taken from a
Hittite cylinder.
His mountain provinces yielded him wood and minerals, and provided a reserve of semi-savage woodcutters and herdsmen from which to recruit his numerous battalions. The neighbouring princes, filled with uneasiness or jealousy by his good fortune, saw in the Assyrian monarch a friend and a liberator rather than an enemy. Carchemish opened its gates and laid at his feet the best of its treasures—twenty talents of silver, ingots, rings, and daggers of gold, a hundred talents of copper, two hundred talents of iron, bronze bulls, cups decorated with scenes in relief or outline, ivory in the tusk or curiously wrought, purple and embroidered stuffs, and the state carriage of its King Shangara. The Hittite troops, assembled in haste, joined forces with the Aramæan auxiliaries, and the united host advanced on Coele-Syria. The scribe commissioned to record the history of this expedition has taken a delight in inserting the most minute details. Leaving Carchemish, the army followed the great caravan route, and winding its way between the hills of Munzigâni and Khamurga, skirting Bît-Agusi, at length arrived under the walls of Khazazu among the Patina.*
* Khazazu being the present Azaz, the Assyrian army must
have followed the route which still leads from Jerabis to
this town. Mount Munzigâni and Khamurga, mentioned between
Carchemish and Akhânu or Iakhânu, must lie between the Sajur
and the Koweik, near Shehab, at the only point on the route
where the road passes between two ranges of lofty hills.
The town having purchased immunity by a present of gold and of finely woven stuffs, the army proceeded to cross the Apriê, on the bank of which an entrenched camp was formed for the storage of the spoil. Lubarna offered no resistance, but nevertheless refused to acknowledge his inferiority; after some delay, ifc was decided to make a direct attack on his capital, Kunulua, whither he had retired. The appearance of the Assyrian vanguard put a speedy end to his ideas of resistance: prostrating himself before his powerful adversary, he offered hostages, and emptied his palaces and stables to provide a ransom. This comprised twenty talents of silver, one talent of gold, a hundred talents of lead, a hundred talents of iron, a thousand bulls, ten thousand sheep, daughters of his nobles with befitting changes of garments, and all the paraphernalia of vessels, jewels, and costly stuffs which formed the necessary furniture of a princely household. The effect of his submission on his own vassals and the neighbouring tribes was shown in different ways. Bît-Agusi at once sent messengers to congratulate the conqueror, but the mountain provinces awaited the invader’s nearer approach before following its example. Assur-nazir-pal, seeing that they did not take the initiative, crossed the Orontes, probably at the spot where the iron bridge now stands, and making his way through the country between laraku and Iaturi,* reached the banks of the Sangura* without encountering any difficulty.