The earliest inscriptions date back to the ninth century before Christ, and as the language is neither Semitic nor Indo-European, the people could neither have been Assyrians whose language was Semitic, nor Armenians, whose language is Indo-European. The first mention made of Urardhu was in the reign of Ashur-Nazir-Pal (885-860 B.C.) whose successor, Shalmanasar II (860-825 B.C.) was the first Assyrian king to invade Armenia. [15] Raffi, however, (the son of the famous Armenian poet) speaks of an account given by Assur-Nazir-Haban (1882-1857 B.C.) of one of his victories. "They" (i.e., the people of Ararat or Urarthu), he said, "fled to the impregnable mountains so that I might not be able to get at them, for the mighty summits were like drawn swords pointing to the skies. Only the birds of heaven soaring on their wings could reach them. In three days I was there spreading terror in places where they had taken refuge. Their corpses like autumn leaves filled the clefts. The rest escaped to distant inaccessible heights." [16] This, clearly, is a much older record than any that Lynch found trace of, and although Raffi cites no authority for the quotation, I presume that it has been taken from a recent discovery. If this be true the Khaldeans were a very ancient people. One of the tablets shows that King Memas was the principal author of the magnificent canal which conducts the water of the river Khoshab to the suburbs of Van, and which is to-day called "Shamiram-Su" or river of Semiramis. [17] The line of Vannic kings is traceable as far down as 644 B.C. Most of these inscriptions are to be found on a huge isolated rock, situated in the curve of the bay, and known as the "rock of Van." [18] Among them are inscriptions left by Xerxes (485 B.C.), the Persian conqueror whose father's empire (Darius, 521-486 B.C.) succeeded the loose Scythian rule. But the ancient Khaldean kingdom had already vanished when Xerxes' victorious army overran the country, for shortly after the great influx of Scythians and the break-up of Assyria, came another horde from the west, perhaps to fill up the void left by the Scythian ravages. It is at this time that the Armenian people are first heard from, and it is this horde, therefore, that is regarded as the foundation stock of the Armenian people. They seem to have been an Indo-European people residing in the territory north of the Black Sea, for, coming from the west they must have entered Asia from Europe by crossing the straits. The ancient Khaldeans were assimilated to some extent, but for the most part, they were driven to the north and south, where they have left traces that have been recognized and recorded by Xenophon and Herodotus. [19]