A stable government was once more established in Babylonia by Nabû-mukîn-apli, the founder of the Eighth Dynasty,[22] though even in his reign Aramean tribes continued to give trouble, holding the Euphrates in the neighbourhood of Babylon and Borsippa, cutting communications, and raiding the country-side. On one occasion they captured the Ferry-Gate of Kâr-bêlmâtâti and prevented the king from holding the New Year's Festival, as the statue of the god Nabû could not be transported across the river to Babylon.[23] A rude portrait of this monarch is preserved on a boundary-stone of his reign, on which he is represented giving the royal sanction to the transfer of an estate in the district of Sha-mamîtu; and it may be added that considerable friction subsequently took place, with regard to the validity of the title, between the original owner Arad-Sibitti and his son-in-law, a jewel-worker named Burusha.[24] The coarse style of the engraving is probably to be explained by the fact of its provincial origin, though there can be little doubt that the standard of Babylonian art had been adversely affected by the internal condition of the country during the preceding period. It was at the time of the Eighth Dynasty that the renaissance of Assyria took place, which culminated in the victories of that ruthless conqueror Ashur-nasir-pal and of his son Shalmaneser III. Its effect was first felt in Babylon in the reign of Shamash-mudammik, who suffered a serious defeat in the neighbourhood of Mt. Ialman at the hands of Adad-nirari III., Ashur-nasir-pal's grandfather. Against Nabû-shum-ishkun I., the murderer and successor of Shamash-mudammik, Adad-nirari secured another victory, several Babylonian cities with much spoil falling into his hands. But we subsequently find him on friendly terms with Babylon, and allying himself with Nabû-shum-ishkun, or possibly with his successor, each monarch marrying the others daughter.[25] His son Tukulti-Ninib II. of Assyria, profiting by the renewed sense of security from attack upon his southern border, began to make tentative efforts at expanding westwards into Mesopotamia. But it was reserved for Ashur-nasir-pal, his son, to cross the Euphrates and lead Assyrian armies once more into Syrian territory. After securing his frontier to the east and north of Assyria, Ashur-nasir-pal turned his attention to the west. The Aramean states of Bît-Khadippi and Bît-Adini, both on the left bank of the Euphrates, fell before his onslaught. Then crossing the Euphrates on rafts of skins, he received the submission of Sangar of Carchemish, and marched in triumph through Syria to the coast.