This being the case, he set out, in his eighteenth year (842 B.C.), and crossed the Euphrates for the sixteenth time. This expedition, however, was not against his old foe, Ben-Hadad or Adad-idri, but against Ḫaza’-îlu, the Hazael of 2 Kings viii. 8, etc., who had treacherously murdered his master, as related in this passage, and seized the throne. Hearing of the advance of the Assyrian army, he prepared for resistance, as is related in the following narrative. [Plate VIII.] Plates of Chased Bronze, which covered the Doors of an Enclosure at Balawat. (Left-hand portions, from right-hand leaf.) (Found by Mr. H. Rassam, in 1878, and now in British Museum, Assyrian Saloon.) I_a_.—The expedition of Shalmaneser II. to the land of Nairi (Mesopotamia). Sacrificing to the gods by throwing meat-offerings into the lake. March of the army over the mountains. I_b_.—Siege and capture of the city Suguni, in Ararat. II_a_.—Bringing to Shalmaneser "_the tribute of the ships of Tyre and Sidon_." II_b_.—March against the city Hazizi. Procession of prisoners. III_a_. and III_b_.—Crossing the tributaries of the Euphrates by pontoon bridges. Receiving tribute from Adinu, son of Dakaru, of Enzudu. (Page 337.) “In my 18th year I crossed the Euphrates for the 16th time. Ḫaza-’îlu of the land of Imēri-šu trusted to the might of his troops, and called his troops together in great number. Saniru, the peak of a mountain which is before Lebanon, he made his stronghold. I fought with him, I accomplished his defeat: 16,000 of his fighting-men I slew with the sword: 1121 of his chariots, 470 of his horses, with his camp, I captured. He fled to save his life—I set out after him. I besieged him in Dimašqu (Damascus), his royal city. I cut down his orchards; I went to the mountains of the land of Ḫauranu (the Hauran), cities without number I destroyed, wasted, and burned in the flames. Untold spoil I carried away. I went to the mountains of Ba’ali-ra’asi” (Aramaic: “lord of the promontory”), “which is a headland” (lit., “head of the sea”)—“I set up an image of my majesty therein. In those days I received the tribute of the Tyrians, Sidonians, (and) of Yaua, son of Ḫumrî.” The description of this campaign given by the Black Obelisk is as follows— “In my 18th year I crossed the Euphrates for the 16th time. Ḫaza’-îlu of the land of Imēri-šu came forth to battle: 1121 of his chariots, 470 of his horses, with his camp, I took away from him.”