It is probable that he made no further attempt to renew the
contest during the life of Hammurabi, but after Samsu-iluna, the son
of Hammurabi, had succeeded to the Babylonian throne, he appeared in
Babylonia at the head of the forces he had collected, and attempted to
regain the cities and territory he had lost.
[Illustration: 245.jpg SEMITIC BABYLONIAN CONTRACT-TABLET]
Inscribed in the reign of Hammurabi with a deed recording
the division of property. The actual tablet is on the right;
that which appears to be another and larger tablet on the
left is the hollow clay case in which the tablet on the
right was originally enclosed. Photograph by Messrs. Mansell
& Co.
The portion of the text of the chronicle relating to the war between
Rim-Sin and Samsu-iluna is broken so that it is not possible to follow
the campaign in detail, but it appears that Samsu-iluna defeated
Rim-Sin, and possibly captured him or burnt him alive in a palace in
which he had taken refuge.
With the final defeat of Rim-Sin by Samsu-iluna it is probable that Elam
ceased to be a thorn in the side of the kings of Babylon and that
she made no further attempts to extend her authority beyond her own
frontiers. But no sooner had Samsu-iluna freed his country from all
danger from this quarter than he found himself faced by a new foe,
before whom the dynasty eventually succumbed.
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