There is no doubt that the son and grandson of Khattusil, Dudkhalia and Arnuanta, carried on their father's policy of friendliness towards Babylon, who had no reason politically to resent the intrusion of Egyptian influence at Khatti.[44] But Arnuanta is the last king of Khatti whose name has been recovered, and it is certain that in the following century the invasion of Anatolia by the Phrygians and the Muski put an end to Hittite power in Cappadocia. The Hittites were pressed southward through the passes, and they continued to wield a diminished political influence in Northern Syria. Meanwhile Assyria profited by their downfall and disappearance in the north. She had already expanded at the expense of Mitanni, and now that this second check upon her was removed, the balance of power ceased to be maintained in Western Asia. Babylon's history from this time forward is in great part moulded by her relations with the northern kingdom. Even at the time of the later Hittite kings she failed to maintain her frontier from Assyrian encroachment, and the capital itself was soon to fall. We are able to follow the course of these events in some detail, as, with the reign of Kara-indash I., the earliest of Amen-hetep III.'s correspondents,[45] our sources of information are increased by the so-called "Synchronistic History" of Assyria and Babylonia,[46] which furnishes a series of brief notices concerning the relations maintained between the two countries.
[Illustration: HITTITE HIËROGLYPHIC INSCRIPTION After Hogarth, Carchemish, pl. B, 6.]
In the long period between Agum-kakrime[47] and Kara-indash, the names of three Kassite rulers only have recovered. From a kudurru,[48] or legal document, of the reign of Kadashman-Enlil I. we learn of two earlier Kassite kings, Kadashman-Kharbe and his son Kurigalzu,[49] and it is possible that a son of the latter, Meli-Shipak, succeeded his father on the throne.[50] We know nothing of Babylon's relations to Assyria at this time, and our first glimpse of their long struggle for supremacy is in the reign of Kara-indash, who is recorded to have made a friendly agreement with Ashur-rim-nishêshu with regard to their common boundary.[51] That such an agreement should have been drawn up is in itself evidence of friction, and it is not surprising that a generation or so later Burna-Buriash, the correspondent of Amen-hetep III., should have found it necessary to conclude a similar treaty with Puzur-Ashur, the contemporary Assyrian king.[52] We may regard these agreements as marking the beginning of the first phase in Babylon's subsequent dealings with Assyria, which closes with friendly agreements of a like character at the time of the Fourth Babylonian dynasty. During the intervening period of some three centuries friendly relations were constantly interrupted by armed conflicts, which generally resulted in a rectification of the frontier to Babylon's disadvantage. On only one occasion was she victorious in battle, and twice during the period the capital itself was taken. But Assyria was not yet strong enough to dominate the southern kingdom for any length of time, and at the close of the period Babylon may still be regarded as in occupation of a great part of her former territory, but with sorely diminished prestige.