of its yoke. Asia was associated henceforward in the minds of the Egyptians with painful memories of thwarted ambitions, rather than as offering a field for present conquest. They were pursued by the memories of their former triumphs, and the very monuments of their cities recalled what they were anxious to forget. Wherever they looked within their towns they encountered the representation of some Asiatic scene; they read the names of the cities of Syria on the walls of their temples; they saw depicted on them its princes and its armies, whose defeat was recorded by the inscriptions as well as the tribute which they had been forced to pay. The sense of their own weakness prevented the Egyptians from passing from useless regrets to action; when, however, one or other of the Pharaohs felt sufficiently secure on the throne to carry his troops far afield, he was always attracted to Syria, and crossed her frontiers, often, alas! merely to encounter defeat. [Illustration: 095.jpg Tailpiece] CHAPTER II--THE RISE OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE _PHOENICIA AND THE NORTHERN NATIONS AFTER THE DEATH OP RAMSES III.--THE FIRST ASSYRIAN EMPIRE: TIGLATH-PILESUR I.--THE ARAMÆANS AND THE KHÂTI._ _The continuance of Egyptian influence over Syrian civilization after the death of Ramses III.--Egyptian myths in Phoenicia: Osiris and Isis at Byblos--Horus, Thot, and the origin of the Egyptian alphabet--The tombs at Arvad and the Kabr-Hiram; Egyptian designs in Phoenician glass and goldsmiths’work--Commerce with Egypt, the withdrawal of Phoenician colonies in the Ægean Sea and the Achæans in Cyprus; maritime expeditions in the Western Mediterranean._ _Northern Syria: the decadence of the Hittites and the steady growth of the Aramæan tribes--The decline of the Babylonian empire under the Cossæan kings, and its relations with Egypt: Assuruballit, Bammdn-nirdri I. and the first Assyrian conquests--Assyria, its climate, provinces, and cities: the god Assur and his Ishtar--The wars against Chaldæa: Shalmaneser I., Tulculi-ninip I., and the taking of Babylon--Belchadrezzar and the last of the Cosssæans._ _The dynasty of Pashê: Nebuchadrezzar I., his disputes with Elam, his defeat by Assurrîshishî--The legend of the first Assyrian empire, Ninos and Semiramis--The Assyrians and their political constitution: the limmu, the king and his divine character, his hunting and his wars--The Assyrian army: the infantry and chariotry, the crossing of rivers, mode of marching in the plains and in the mountain districts--Camps, battles, sieges; cruelty shown to the vanquished, the destruction of towns and the removal of the inhabitants, the ephemeral character of the Assyrian conquests._