Instead of Marduk, indeed, the Assyrians re- cognized as the practical head of their pantheon the deity who presided over the fortunes of the ancient city on the Tigris, known in earlier times as A-usar, and later on as Ashur; and the circumstance that in the north a powerful State developed by the extension of a city (pre- cisely as in the south the Babylonian empire represented merely the extension of the city of Babylon) made it obligatory to assign to the god of A-usar the same position which was accorded in the south to the god of Babylon. We thus obtain one figure in the Assyrian pantheon who represents an original contribution, and who embodies, as it were, the genius of Assyria. That the Assyrians, in thus raising the god of A-usar toa position at the head of the pantheon, had in mind the creation of a rival to Marduk, is shown not only in their avoidance of the latter, as just pointed out, but in the choice of the name Ashur, a modification of Ashir,* which with the force of ‘ overseer’ or ‘ protector’ is one of the titles given to Marduk.+ The assonance between A-usar, the name of the oldest capital of Assyria, and Ashur, helped to bring about the introduction of Ashur as the name of the patron deity of the place, and from the god the name was extended to the city and to the country; so that A-wsar disappears almost completely, and we find in Assyrian inscriptions Ashur applied to the god, to the city, and to the country or district of Assyria alike and without distinction. The god Ashur becomes so thoroughly identified with the country of Assyria that the change of the capital from Ashur to Calah, and later to Nineveh, in no way affects the position of this deity, who sums up, as it were, the power and spirit of the Assyrian empire. The local deity of A-usar appears to have been originally regarded as a sun-god ; but this phase is entirely obscured by the warlike traits given to Ashur in consequence of the prowess displayed by the Assyrian armies. War was the natural element of the Assyrians, who in this respect present a contrast to their more peace- fully inclined cousins in the south; and to such an extent was this the case, that almost all the gods of the Assyrian pantheon take on a warlike aspect, becoming, as it were, minor Ashurs by the side of the great and chief god of war. It is Ashur
*In one of the oldest of Assyrian inscriptions —that of Trishum (¢. 1730 B.c.)—the god of A-usar is called Ashiv. See Meissner, Assyriologische Studien, i. p. 17. :
+ e.g. Rawlinson, iv.2 57, obv. 82; Delitzsch, Weltschipfungs- epos, p. 155; K 2107, obv. 2. For the full proof of the views here advanced, see an article by the present writer, ‘The god Ashur,’ in the 24th vol. of the Journal of the American Oriental Society, pp 282-311.
who, surrounded by the other gods acting as his guards and attendants, leads the Assyrian armies to victory. Instead of erecting statues to him, the Assyrians represented him by a standard sur- rounded by a winged dise, to which a picture of a warrior in the act of discharging an arrow was attached. This standard was carried into the camp, and the god was literally present in the thick of battle, guiding and encouraging his favourites—the kings and their generals. To Ashur, accordingly, all victories were ascribed ; and so secure was his position that it was possible for Assyrian kings to recognize by the side of Ashur a special patron god—one choosing Nebo, another Ninib, a third Shamash—-on whom they could shower honours and glorifying epithets without arousing the suspicion of disloyalty to the head of the Assyrian pantheon.
There was another aspect of Ashur which makes him the most characteristic figure in the Assyrian religion. He was not brought into direct associa- tion with any other god. Marduk, despite his position at the head of the Babylonian pantheon, had to yield to certain prerogatives possessed by Ea, as whose son therefore he was depicted. In turn he became the father of Nebo. Ashur, on the other hand, is childless, and acknowledges no other god as his father. What is even more note- worthy, although Ishtar is frequently named by the side of Ashur she is not his wife, and there is, in fact, no female reflexion or consort assigned to Ashur such as we find in the case of all other deities. He rules without a rival, and he stands virtually alone. Indeed, we gain the impression at times of his being the only god recognized by the Assyrians as exerting a real influence over his subjects. He reminds us in some respects of the national deity of the Hebrews, Jahweh, who without consort or offspring brooks no other god by His side. And just as in Babylonia the
spiritualizing process, which accompanies the de-
velopment of every religion, leads to the estab- lishment of the doctrine of a triad of gods standing far above the gods of the active pan- theon, so in Assyria this process has its outcome in the conception of a single deity who presides over the fate of the country, who marks the genius of the empire established by the Assyrian kings, and who seems to suffice for all the needs of his subjects. This unique position of Ashur was first recognized by Sayce,* who goes so far as to express the opinion that, under other circumstances, there might have developed as spiritualistic a faith as marked the growth in Israel of Jahweh from a national to a universal deity. However this may be, the conception of Ashur as expressed in the annals of Assyrian kings and in the hymns com- posed in his honour, represents the closest approach to a monotheistic conception of the Universe, de- spite certain well-marked limitations, to be found in the religion of ancient Mesopotamia.