As was the case under Tiglath-pileser III., Urartu neither submitted to Assyria, nor was there any kind of treaty between the belligerents to prescribe the conditions of this temporary truce. Both sides maintained their positions on their respective territories: Sargon kept the frontier towns acquired by him in previous years, and which he had annexed to the border provinces, retaining also his suzerainty over Muzazir, the Mannai, and the Median states implicated in the struggle; Argistis, on his side, strengthened himself in the regions around the sources of the Euphrates and Lake Van--in Biainas, in Etius, and in the plains of the Araxes. The material injuries which he had received, however considerable they may appear, were not irreparable, and, as a fact, the country quickly recovered from them, but the people's confidence in their prince and his chiefs was destroyed. The defeat of Sharduris, following as it did on a period of advantageous victories, may have seemed to Argistis one of those unimportant occurrences which constantly take place in the career of the strongest nations; the disaster of Rusas proved to him that, in attempting to wipe out his first repulse, he had only made matters worse, and the conviction was borne in upon his princes that they were not in a position to contest the possession of Western Asia with the Assyrians. They therefore renounced, more from instinct than as the result of deliberation, the project of enlarging their borders to the south, and if they subsequently reappeared on the Mesopotamian plains, it was in search of booty, and not to acquire territory. Any attempt to stop their incursions, or to disturb them in their mountain fastnesses, found them prepared to hold their own with the same obstinacy as of old, and they were quite able to safeguard their independence against an intruder. Besides this, the Cimmerians and the Scythians were already pressing on their frontier, and were constantly harassing them. [Illustration: 379.jpg THE ASSYRIANS TAKING A MEDIAN TOWN] Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the facsimile by Flandin. It seems that this town was called Amkaru, and its name appears, as far as I know, in none of the accounts which we possess of the campaigns. The town was apparently situated in Karalla or in Median territory. This fresh danger absorbed their entire attention, and from this time forward they ceased to play a part in general history; the century which had seen the rise and growth of their power was also a witness of their downfall under the attacks of Assyria. During the last months of 714, the tribes which had formerly constituted the kingdom of Karalla mutinied against the tyranny of their governor, and invited Ami-tashshi, the brother of their ancient lord Assurli, to rule over them. Sargon attacked them in the spring of 713, dispersed their troops, held them to ransom, and after having once more exacted homage from Bit-Dayaukku,* Ellipi, and Allabria.