The reputation—and also the confidence—of the citizens of Tyre being thus greatly increased, they continued their resistance, and Shalmaneser found himself obliged, in consequence of the inefficiency of his allies, to content himself with a mere blockade of the city, and the placing of guards over the water supply, so as to reduce the inhabitants of Tyre by thirst. The latter, however, dug wells, and were thus enabled to continue their resistance, which Meander states lasted all the time of the siege, namely, five years—_i.e._ until two years after the death of Shalmaneser. To all appearance the Sabara’in of the Babylonian Chronicle is the place which should be supplied in the historical Eponym Canon, but, if so, the form is a strange one. One would rather expect mât Bît-Ḫumrî, “the land of Beth-Omri,” Pilišta, “Philistia,” or âl Ṣurri, “the city of Tyre.” There is also the possibility that one of these names may have appeared in each of the three lines which require completing, indicating three different stages of his conquests. Samerina, “Samaria,” may also have been the word, or one of the words, to be restored. In this last case, Delitzsch’s suggestion that Sabara’in ought to be read Samara’in, and regarded as the Babylonian form of the Heb. Shomeron, “Samaria,” is worthy of note. The Babylonians do not state that he captured Sabara’in or Samara’in, but only that he destroyed (perhaps the word means “ravaged”) it, and the city may not have really fallen into the hands of the Assyrians until Sargon was actually on the throne. “In the 5th year Šulmanu-ašarid died in the month Tebet. Šulmanu-ašarid had ruled the kingdom of Akkad and Aššur for five years. In the month Tebet, the 12th day, Sargon sat on the throne in Aššur, and in the month Nisan Marduk-âbla-iddina (Merodach-baladan) sat on the throne in Babylon.” Thus does the Babylonian Chronicle record the change of rulers, which was to have wide-reaching results for both countries. What the verse in Hoshea, “All thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle,” refers to, is not known. There is every probability that Shalman stands for Shalmaneser IV., but which is the Beth-arbel which is spoken of? There were two places of the name in Palestine, one west of the Sea of Galilee, and the other at the extreme north of Gilead. Both are now called Irbid. If it be one of these, the verse probably refers to some incident of Shalmaneser’s invasion. George Smith, however, thought that the reference may have been due to some domestic strife in Assyria at the close of the reign of Shalmaneser, in which the Assyrian city of Arbela was involved. That it was one of the two places in Palestine, however, is more probable.