_Tiglath pileser I.: Ms campaign against the Mushhu, his conquest of Kurhhi and of the regions of the Zab--The petty Asiatic kingdoms and their civilization: art and writing in the old Hittite states--Tiglath-pileser I. in Nairi and in Syria: his triumphal stele at Sebbeneh-Su--His buildings, his hunts, his conquest of Babylon--Merodach-nadin-akhi and the close of the Pashê dynasty--Assur-belkala and Samsi-rammân III.: the decline of Assyria--Syria without a foreign rider: the incapacity of the Khdti to give unity to the country._ [Illustration: 099.jpg Page Image] CHAPTER II--THE RISE OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE _Phoenicia and the northern nations after the death of Ramses III.--The first Assyrian empire: Tiglath-pileser I.--The Aramoans and the Khâti._ The cessation of Egyptian authority over countries in which it had so long prevailed did not at once do away with the deep impression which it had made upon their constitution and customs. While the nobles and citizens of Thebes were adopting the imported worship of Baal and Astartê, and were introducing into the spoken and written language words borrowed from Semitic speech, the Syrians, on the other hand, were not unreceptive of the influence of their conquerors. They had applied themselves zealously to the study of Egyptian arts, industry and religion, and had borrowed from these as much, at least, as they had lent to the dwellers on the Nile. The ancient Babylonian foundation of their civilization was not, indeed, seriously modified, but it was covered over, so to speak, with an African veneer which varied in depth according to the locality.* * Most of the views put forth in this part of the chapter are based on posterior and not contemporary data. The most ancient monuments which give evidence of it show it in such a complete state that we may fairly ascribe it to some centuries earlier; that is, to the time when Egypt still ruled in Syria, the period of the XIXth and even the XVIIIth dynasty.