And now what shall we say by way of summing up the Assyrian writing of history? First of all, it was developed from the building inscription and not from the boast of the soldier. That this throws a new light on the Assyrian character must be admitted, though here is not the place to prove that the Assyrian was far more than a mere man of war. All through the development of the Assyrian historiography, the building operations play a large part, and they dominate some even of the so called Annals. But once we have Annals, the other types of inscriptions may generally be disregarded. The Annals inscriptions, then, represent the height of Assyrian historical writing. From the literary point of view, they are often most striking with their bold similes, and that great care was devoted to their production can frequently be proved. But in their utilization, two principles must constantly be kept in mind. One is that the typical annals inscription went through a series of editions, that these later editions not only omitted important facts but "corrected" the earlier recitals for the greater glory of the ruler, real or nominal, and that accordingly only the earliest edition in which an event is narrated should be at all used. Secondly, we should never forget that these are official documents, and that if we can trust them in certain respects the more because they had better opportunities for securing the truth, all the greater must be our suspicion that they have concealed the truth when it was not to the advantage of the monarch glorified. Only when we have applied these principles in detail to the various documents can we be sure of our Assyrian history and only then shall we understand the mental processes of the Assyrian historians. ABBREVIATIONS Abel-Winckler: L. Abel, H. Winckler, Keilschrifttexte, 1890. AJSL American Journal of Semitic Languages. Amiaud-Scheil A. Amiaud, V. Scheil, Les inscriptions de Salmanassar II, 1890. AOF H. Winckler, Altorientalische Forschungen, 1893 ff. BM British Museum number; special collections are marked K., S., Rm., DT., or by the year, month, and day, as 81-2-3, 79. Budge E. A. W. Budge, History of Esarhaddon, 1880. Budge-King E. A. W. Budge, L. W. King, Annals of Kings of Assyria, I. 1902. G. Smith G. Smith, History of Assurbanipal, 1871. Harper R. F. Harper, Assyrian and Babylonian Literature, 1901. JA Journal Asiatique. JRAS Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. KB E. Schrader, Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, 1889 ff. KTA L. Messerschmidt, Keilschrifttexte aus Assur, I. 1911. L A. H. Layard, Inscriptions in the Cuneiform Character, 1851. Le Gac Y. le Gac, Les inscriptions d'Assur-nasir-apal III, 1907. MDOQ Mittheilungen der Deutschen Orient Gesellschaft. Menant Menant, Annales dee rois d'Assyrie, 1874. NR A. H. Layard, Nineveh and its Remains, 1851. OLZ Orientalistische Literaturzeitung. PSBA