permanent source of strength, or of wealth, to its suzerain. Tiglath-pileser's first object, before launching his armies to the north and west, was to secure his southern frontier, and this he effected by invading Babylonia and forcing from Nabonassar an acknowledgment of Assyrian control. During the campaign he overran the northern districts, and applied his policy of deportation by carrying away many of their inhabitants. The distress in the country, due to the Assyrian inroads, was aggravated by internal dissension. Sippar repudiated Nabonassar's authority, and the revolt was subdued only after a siege of the city.[35] The Ninth Dynasty ended with the country in confusion; for Nabû-nadin-zêr, Nabopolassar's son, after a reign of only two years, was slain in a revolt by Nabû-shum-ukin, the governor of a province.[36] The dynasty soon came to an end after the latter's accession. He had not enjoyed his position for more than a month, when the kingdom again changed hands, and Nabû-mukîn-zêr secured the throne. From the fall of the Ninth Dynasty, until the rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, Babylonia was completely overshadowed by the power of Assyria. She became merely a subject province of the empire, and her Tenth Dynasty is mainly composed of Assyrian rulers or their nominees. Nabû-mukîn-zêr had reigned only three years when Tiglath-pileser again invaded Babylonia, took him captive, and ascended the throne of Babylon, where he ruled under his name of Pulu.[37] On his death, which occurred two years later, he was succeeded by Shalmaneser V., who, as suzerain of Babylon, adopted the name of Ululai. But Babylonia soon demonstrated her power of hindering Assyrian plans, for, after the elose of Shalmaneser's reign, when Sargon's army had secured the capture of Samaria, he was obliged to recall his forces from the West by the menace of his southern province. Merodach-baladan, a Chaldean chief of Bît-Iakin[38] at the head of the Persian Gulf, now laid claim to the throne of Babylon. By himself he would not have been formidable to Assyria, but he was backed by an unexpected and dangerous ally. Elam had not meddled in Babylonian affairs for centuries, but she had gradually become alarmed at the growth of Assyrian power. So Khumbanigash, the Elamite king, allying himself with Merodach-baladan, invaded Babylonia, laid siege to the frontier fortress of Dêr or Dûr-ilu on the Lower Tigris, and defeated Sargon and the Assyrian army before its walls. Merodach-baladan was acknowledged by the Babylonians as their king, and he continued to be a thorn in the side of Assyria. [Illustration: SHALMANESER III RECEIVING THE SUBMISSION OF THE CHALDEANS. From the Gates of Shalmaneser in the Brit. Mus.]