“After removing the corpses of the rebels from the midst of Babylon, Cuthra, and Sippara, and piling them in heaps, in accordance with the prophecies I cleaned the mercy seats of their temples. I purified their chief places of prayer I appeased their angry gods and goddesses with supplications and penitential psalms. Their daily sacrifices which they had discontinued, I restored and established as they had been of old. As for the rest of them who had flown at the stroke of slaughter, I had mercy on them. I proclaimed an amnesty upon them. I brought them to live in Babylon. The men of the nations whom Sam ... had led away and united in one conspiracy, I trod down to the uttermost parts of their borders. By the command of Assur, Beltis, and the great gods my helpers, the yoke of Assur which they had shaken off I laid upon them. I appointed over them governors and satraps, the work of my own hands.” From this account it will be seen that Assur-bani-pal slew his rebellious brother and destroyed the principal leaders of the revolt, with the exception of those who had pleaded for mercy. As a result of this defeat at Charchemish, Necho was dethroned and led in chains to Babylon. This Chaldean conqueror had a policy that was unique for his day. It was his consistent practice to deal mercifully with the repentant. When the Pharaoh Necho professed sorrow for his conduct, Assur-bani-pal, following his established custom, restored him to Sais where he was to rule Egypt as a province of Babylonia. At this time, Josiah of Judah also accepted the yoke of Assyria and became a vassal of Assur-bani-pal. From what we learn of the character of King Josiah, we would expect that he would be faithful to his pledges and promises and, indeed, this very faithfulness was the cause of his death. The Pharaoh Necho, smarting under his defeat and wounded deeply in his pride, quietly gathered together a tremendous army and rebelled against Assur-bani-pal the second time. In this second conflict, Charchemish was the chosen battle ground. Although many strategic battles had been waged back and forth about this important center, this is generally referred to as the First Battle of Charchemish. This reference is undoubtedly predicated upon the fact that the ultimate struggle between Assyria and Egypt, which gave the latter power a world dominion, centered about this field.