His activities during his closing years were confined to the north and west, and to the task of keeping open the Euphrates route. For he cut a canal beside Kâr-Sippar, recovered possession of Saggaratum, and probably destroyed the cities of Arkum and Amal. His defeat of an Amorite force some two years before his death is of interest as proving that the Western Semites of Akkad, nearly two centuries after their settlement in the country, were experiencing the same treatment from their own stock that they themselves had caused to the land of their adoption. Samsu-iluna, with the possible exception of Ammi-ditana, was the last great king of the West-Semitic dynasty. It is true that his son Abi-eshu' made a fresh attempt to dislodge Iluma-ilum from his hold upon Central and Southern Babylonia. A late chronicle records that he took the offensive and marched against Iluma-ilum.[11] It would seem that his attack was in the nature of a surprise, and that he succeeded in cutting off the king and part of his forces, possibly on their return from some other expedition. It is clear that he came into touch with him in the neighbourhood of the Tigris, and probably forced him to take refuge in a fortress, since he attempted to cut off his retreat by damming the river. He is said to have succeeded in damming the stream, but he failed to catch Iluma-ilum. The chronicle records no further conflict between the two, and we may assume that he then adopted his father's later policy of leaving the Sea-Country in possession of its conquered territory. In some of his broken date-formulæ we have echoes of a few further campaigns, and we know that he cut the Abi-eshu' Canal, and built a fortress at the gate of the Tigris, which he also named after himself, Dûr-Abi-eshu'. This was probably a frontier fortification, erected for the defence of the river at the point where it passed from Babylon's area of control to that of the Sea-Country. He also built the town of Lukhaia on the Arakhtu Canal in the immediate neighbourhood of Babylon. But both Abi-eshu' and his successors on the throne give evidence of having become more and more engrossed in cult-observances. The supply of temple-furniture begins to have for them the importance that military success had for their fathers. And it is a symptom of decadence that, even in the religious sphere, they are as much concerned with their own worship as with that of the gods.