Page:The Pharaohs and their people; scenes of old Egyptian life and history (IA pharaohstheirpeo00berkiala).pdf/297

 of the rebellious vassals, and to uphold him against Tirhakah. But the hand of the Assyrian was heavy on the land. 'Memphis, Sais, Mendes, and Zoan,' he says, 'and all the cities they had led away with them, I took by storm, putting to death both small and great.' Soon after this the gallant Tirhakah died, after a reign of twenty-six years, and his successor, Urdamaneh, following in his steps, occupied Thebes, and once more attempted to wrest Egypt from the invader. Assur-bani-pal took the field in person, and again compelled his foe to retire to the far south. On Thebes he took dire vengeance. 'My warriors attacked the city, and razed it to the ground like a thunderbolt.' Thebes certainly was not 'razed to the ground,' as the proud conqueror boasts, but the destruction was terrible, and the city never recovered the blow. 'Gold and silver, the treasures of the land, precious stones, horses, men and women, huge apes from the mountains—my soldiers took out of the midst of the city as spoil. They brought it to Nineveh, the city of my dominion, and they kissed my feet.' Not far from Nineveh there was living at this time