Sykes' History of Persia - Heritage Institute

THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE 95
by the whole Elamite nation ; and, as the Babylonian
envoys offered the treasures of the gods, Khumban-igash
threw himself into the alliance, which was undoubtedly
popular.
The Second Campaign against Elam^ 651 b.c.—The
campaign opened and the opposing forces watched one
another throughout 651 b.c. Assyria again reaped the
benefit of internal dissensions in the Elamite royal family.
Tammaritu, brother of Khumban-igash, conspired against
him, and after putting him to death seized the throne :
but, to prove that there was no change of policy, he at
once despatched more troops to join the army in the field.
His reign was short ; for one of the great feudatories of
Elam, by name Indabugash,^ was encouraged by the state
of affairs to rebel, and was so successful that Tammaritu
was forced to flee to the marshes bordering the Persian
Gulf, where a ship was seized by the refugees. But a
storm drove the ship ashore, and Tammaritu was made
prisoner and sent to Nineveh. There he was kindly treated
by Assurbanipal, who hoped, no doubt, to make use of him
in the future. Meanwhile the successful rebel withdrew
the Elamite forces from the field and left his ally to his fate.
The Capture of Babylon^ 648 b.c.— Assurbanipal was
thus free to deal with Babylon, which, after a long siege,
was captured and dealt with in exactly the same way as it
had been by Sennacherib, its inhabitants being massacred
by thousands in front of the great winged bulls.
The Third Campaign against Elam.— The Assyrian
monarch now wisely determined to take advantage of
Elamite divisions to make an end of the independence of
this turbulent state, and, as may be imagined, Tammaritu
was the chosen instrument. Even before the fall of
Babylon a demand had been made for the surrender of the
Chaldeans who had taken part in the rebellion, but no
definite answer had been given. Upon the fall of the
great city, which it was to the vital interests of Elam to
prevent, Assurbanipal
dismissed the Elamite ambassadors
with the following message to the neighbouring monarch :
^ This name is clearly an Aryan one, as it contains the Slav buga or god, the modern
Russian bog. Vide Hall, op. cit. p. zoi.