Ashur (god) - Citizendia

A "feather robed archer" figure, identified as a symbol of Ashur.

Aššur (also Ashur, Assur; written A-šur, also Aš-šùr, in Neo-Assyrian often shortened to Aš) was the head of the Assyrian pantheon. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture His origins are unknown but he is one of the Mesopotamian city gods, namely of the city Assur (pronounced Ashur), once the capital of the Old Assyrian kingdom. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding Assur also spelled Ashur, from Assyrian Aššur, was one of the capitals of ancient Assyria. It might therefore be that he was a personification of the city itself. From about 1300 BC priests attempted to replace Marduk with Ashur in Enuma Elish. The akk Enûma Eliš is the Babylonian Creation myth (named for its Incipit) From the reign of Sargon II he was identified with Anshar (An-šàr) the father of An, probably because the similarities of the names. Sargon II ( Akkadian Šarru-kinu "legitimate king" reigned 722 – 705 BC was an Assyrian king In Akkadian mythology, Anshar (also spelled Anshur) which means "sky pivot" or "sky axle" is a Sky God. In this version of the Enuma Elish Marduk does not appear and instead Ashur slays Tiamat as Anshar. In Babylonian mythology, Tiamat is the sea personified as a Goddess, and a monstrous embodiment of Primordial chaos. In Akkadian mythology, Anshar (also spelled Anshur) which means "sky pivot" or "sky axle" is a Sky God. Some scholars have claimed that Ashur was represented as the solar disc that appears frequently in Assyrian iconography. Iconography is the branch of Art history which studies the identification description and the interpretation of the content of images However evidence points out that it is in fact the sun god Shamash. For the Canaanite sun godess see Shemesh Shamash was the common Akkadian name of the Sun-god and god of justice in Babylonia Many Assyrian kings had names that included the name Ashur, including, above all, Ashurnasirpal, Esarhaddon (Ashur-aha-iddina), and Ashurbanipal. Ashurnasirpal may refer to Ashurnasirpal I, king of Assyria from 1050 BCE to 1031 BCE Ashurnasirpal II, king of Assyria from 884 BC to Esarhaddon (Greek and Biblical form Akkadian Aššur-ahhe-iddina " Ashur has given a brother to me" was a king of Assyria who reigned Ashurbanipal ( Akkadian: Aššur-bāni-apli, " Ashur has made a son" or "Ashur created an heir" (b

Epithets include bêlu rabû "great lord", ab ilâni "father of gods", šadû rabû "great mountain", and il aššurî "god of Ashur".

Other deities who were similarly exalted as "high heads" at various centres and at various periods, included Anu, Bel Enlil, and Ea, Merodach, Nergal, and Shamash. In Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians Anu (also An; (from Sumerian *An = sky heaven was a sky-god Enlil ( EN = Lord + LIL = Loft "Lord of the Open" or "Lord of the Wind" was the name of a chief deity listed and written about in ancient Sumerian Marduk ( Sumerian spelling in Akkadian: AMARUTU 𒀫 𒌓 "solar calf" perhaps from MERI The name Nergal (or Nirgal, Nirgali) refers to a Deity in Babylonia with the main seat For the Canaanite sun godess see Shemesh Shamash was the common Akkadian name of the Sun-god and god of justice in Babylonia Ashur a "bull of heaven", like the Sumerian Nannar (Sin), the moon god of Ur, Ninip of Saturn, and Bel Enlil. Sin (Akkadian Sîn, Suen; Sumerian Nanna) is a Sumerian God in Mesopotamian mythology. In Astronomy, the naked-eye planets are the five Planets of our Solar system that can be discerned with the Naked eye without much difficulty As the bull, however, he was, like Anshar, the ruling animal of the heavens; and like Anshar he had associated with him "six divinities of council".

The symbols of Ashur include

a winged disc with horns, enclosing four circles revolving round a middle circle; rippling rays fall down from either side of the disc;
a circle or wheel, suspended from wings, and enclosing a warrior drawing his bow to discharge an arrow;
the same circle; the warrior's bow, however, is carried in his left hand, while the right hand is uplifted as if to bless his worshippers (see picture above). The winged sun is a symbol (sometimes known as Behedeti, a name of Horus) associated with Divinity, Royalty and power in the Ancient Near

An Assyrian standard, which probably represented the "world column", has the disc mounted on a bull's head with horns. The upper part of the disc is occupied by a warrior, whose head, part of his bow, and the point of his arrow protrude from the circle. The rippling water rays are V-shaped, and two bulls, treading river-like rays, occupy the divisions thus formed. There are also two heads—a lion's and a man's—with gaping mouths, which may symbolize tempests, the destroying power of the sun, or the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates. Jastrow regards the winged disc as "the purer and more genuine symbol of Ashur as a solar deity". He calls it "a sun disc with protruding rays", and says: "To this symbol the warrior with the bow and arrow was added—a despiritualization that reflects the martial spirit of the Assyrian empire". ^[1]

References

^ Mackenzie (1915), p. 335

Donald A. Mackenzie Myths of Babylonia and Assyria (1915), chapter 15: "Ashur the National God of Assyria"[1]

References

See also