Science mixed with superstition; astronomy with astrology: the observation of nature with augury, 115; modes of measuring time and determining the beginning of the year, 116. Script characters generally used for official and private documents; this mode of writing clear, well-defined, and continued nearly the same till the fall of Nineveh; clay tablets small, but well baked in a kiln; characters sometimes very minute, and must have been formed with the aid of a magnifying glass, 96-7. Sennacherib had been brought up in the purple; was weak, boastful, and cruel, and only preserved the empire by the help of his father's veterans and generals; Merodach-Baladan escaped from captivity, and again seized Babylon, but was driven from the country after the battle of Kis, 41-2; Sennacherib next invaded Phœnicia and Judah and the neighbouring countries; Assyrian account of the battle of Eltekeh; capture of illustrious persons and spoil; his boast of cities taken and tribute; but entire silence about the terrible disaster he sustained near Jerusalem, and his precipitate flight; the following year he suppressed Nergal-yusezib's revolt, and appointed Assur Nadin-sumi viceroy of Babylon, 42-5; pursued the Chaldæan refugees and destroyed their last settlements on the Persian Gulf, 45; Elam next invaded Babylonia, and placed Nergal-yusezib on the throne; defeated the Assyrians near Nipur, but died soon afterwards; he was succeeded by Musezib, who defied the power of Assyria nearly four years, but was beaten in the decisive battle of Khalule; the following year Sennacherib captured Babylon, and gave it up to fire and the sword; the inhabitants were sold into slavery, and the waters of the Araxes canal overflowed the ruined city; his Cilician campaign the last; the rest of his life spent in constructing canals, aqueducts, and rebuilding the palace at Nineveh; he was murdered by his two elder sons whilst worshipping in the temple of his god, 46. Shalmaneser I said to have built Calah, and his descendants reigned uninterruptedly six generations, 27. Shalmaneser II, his great military successes and long reign, the climax of the first Assyrian empire; his annals contained on a monolith near Diarbekr, a small obelisk, and on the bronze framework of the gates of Balawât; Jehu one of his tributaries; his campaign against the Kurds, Van, and the Manna or Minni; compelled the Hittites to sue for peace, and recaptured Pethor, 29-31; defeated Benhadad and his allies at Aroer or Karkar, and twelve years afterwards completely crushed the power of Hazael on the heights of Shenir, laid siege to Damascus, ravaged the Hauran, and marched to Baal-rosh, where his image was carved on the rocky promontory, 31-2; little further attempted by the king, besides exacting tribute from distant regions; revolt of his eldest son, joined by twenty-seven cities, put down by the energy and military capacity of Samas-Rimmon, 31-2.