B.C.), called Sardanapalus, although he lost Egypt, confirmed the Assyrian power in the other subject states, and received tribute from _Lydia_, on the western border of Asia Minor. Under him, Assyrian art made its farthest advance. He was the builder of magnificent palaces. It is his library, dug up from the grave in which it had been buried for two and a half decades of centuries, that has yielded a vast amount of welcome information concerning Assyrian and Babylonian history far back into the Sumerian period. RELIGION AND ART.--It has been stated that the Assyrian culture was transplanted from Babylon. The religion was substantially the same, except that _Asshur_, the tutelary deity of the country, was made supreme. The Assyrians from the start were devoted to war, pillage, and conquest. Their unsparing cruelty and brutal treatment of their enemies are abundantly witnessed by their own monuments. They lacked the productive power in literature and art which belonged to the Babylonians. Although they might have built their edifices of stone, they generally made use of brick. Their sculptures in relief were much better than the full figures. They laid color upon their works in sculpture. But their art was merely a pictorial record of events. The sense of beauty and creative power were wanting. The more religious character of the Babylonians created a difference in the architecture of the two peoples. In gem-cutting both were singularly expert. The Assyrians gave less attention to the burial of the dead. They showed an aptitude for trade; and Nineveh, in the eighth and seventh centuries, was a busy mart. THE FALL OF ASSYRIA.--The first important blow at the Assyrian imperial rule was struck by the _Medes_. After nearly a century of resistance, they had been subdued (710 B.C.), and were subject to Assyria for a century after. In 640 B.C., they rose in revolt, under _Phraortes_, one of their native chiefs, who fell in battle. The struggle was continued by his son, _Cyaxares_. His plans were interrupted, however, by THE IRRUPTION OF THE SCYTHIANS (623 B.C.).--More than a century before, these wandering Asiatic tribes had begun to make predatory incursions into Asia Minor. When _Cyaxares_ was before Nineveh, they came down in greater force, and a horde of them, moving southward from the river Halys, invaded Syria. Jerusalem and the stronger cities held out against them, but the open country was devastated. They were met by _Psammeticus I._, king of Egypt, and bribed to turn back. They entered Babylonia; but _Nabopolassar_, the viceroy of Asshur-bani-pal (Sardanapalus), successfully defended the city of Babylon against their attacks. By _Cyaxares_, either these or another horde were defeated; but it was not until 605 B.C. that the region south of the Black Sea was cleared of them. The kingdom of _Lydia_ had now come to play an important part in the affairs of western Asia.