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ASSUR
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ASSUR , AsuR, or ASHUR, the See also:chief See also:god of See also:Assyria, was origin-ally the See also:patron deity of the See also:city of Assur on the See also:Tigris, the See also:ancient See also:capital of Assyria from which as a centre the authority of the patesis (as the rulers were at first called) spread in various directions. The See also:history of Assyria (q.v.) can now be traced back approximately to 2500 B.C., though it does not rise to See also:political prominence until c. 2000 B.C. The name of the god is identical with that of the city, though an older See also:form A-shir, signifying " See also:leader," suggests that a differentiation between the god and the city was at one See also:time attempted. Though the origin of the form Ashur (or Assur) is not certain, it is probable that the name of the god is older than that of the city (see discussion on the name above). The See also:title Ashir was given to various gods in the See also:south, as See also:Marduk and See also:Nebo, and there is every See also:reason to believe that it represents a See also:direct See also:transfer with the See also:intent to emphasize that Assur is the " leader " or See also:head of the See also:pantheon of the See also:north. He is in fact to all intents and purposes of the north. Originally like Marduk a See also:solar deity with the winged disk—the disk always typifying the sun6—as his See also:symbol, he becomes as Assyria develops into a military See also:power a god of See also:war, indicated by the See also:attachment of the figure of a See also:man with a See also:bow to the winged disk. While the cult of the other See also:great gods and goddesses of Babylonia was transferred to Assyria, the See also:worship of Assur so overshadowed that of the See also:rest as to give the impression of a decided tendency towards the absorption of all divine See also:powers by the one god. Indeed, the other gods, See also:Sin, See also:Shamash (Samas), See also:Adad, See also:Ninib and See also:Nergal, and even See also:Ea, take on the warlike traits of Assur in the epithets and descriptions given of them in the See also:annals and votive See also:inscriptions of See also:Assyrian rulers to such an extent as to make them appear like little Assurs by the See also:side of the great one. Marduk alone retains a large measure of his See also:independence as a 6 See See also:Prince, Journ. Bibl. Lit., xxii. 35.
concession on the See also:part of the Assyrians to the traditions of the south, for which they always manifested a profound respect. Even during the See also:period that the Assyrian monarchs exercised See also:complete sway over the south, they rested their claims to the See also:control of Babylonia on the approval of Marduk, and they or their representatives never failed to perform the ceremony of " taking the See also:hand " of Marduk, which was the formal method of assuming the See also:throne in Babylonia. Apart from this concession, it is Assur who pre-eminently presides over the fortunes of Assyria.' In his name, and with his approval as indicated by favourable omens, the Assyrian armies See also: On the removal of the seat of See also:residence of the Assyrian kings to See also:Calah (c. 1300 B.C.), and then in the 8th See also:century to See also:Nineveh, the centre of the Assur cult was likewise transferred, though the sanctity of the old seat at Assur continued to be recognized. At Nineveh, which remained the capital till the fall of the Assyrian See also:empire in 6o6 B.C., Assur had as his See also:rival Ishtar, who was the real patron deity of the See also:place, but a reconciliation was brought about by making Ishtar the See also:consort of the chief god. The See also:combination was, however, of an artificial See also:character, and the consciousness that Ishtar was in reality an See also:independent goddess never entirely died out. She too, like Assur, was viewed as a war deity, and to such an extent was this the See also:case that at times it would appear that she, rather than Assur, presided over the fortunes of the Assyrian armies. (M. JA.)
ASSUR-BANI-See also:PAL (" Assur creates a son "), the See also:grand nzonarque of Assyria, was the prototype of the See also:Greek See also:Sardanapalus, and appears probably in the corrupted form of Asnapper in See also:Ezra iv. 10. He had been publicly nominated See also: 
See See also:Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, See also:Religion of Ancient Babylonia, p. 129.789 principalities. Tirhakah died 667 he., and his successor Tandaman (Tanuat-Amon) entered Upper Egypt, where a general revolt against Assyria took place, headed by Thebes. Memphis was taken by See also:assault and the Assyrian troops driven out bf the See also:country. See also:Tyre seems to have revolted at the same time. Assurbani-pal, however, lost no time in pouring fresh forces into the revolted See also:province. Once more the Assyrian army made its way up the Nile, Thebes was plundered, and its temples destroyed, two obelisks being carried to Nineveh as trophies (see See also:Nahum iii. 8). Meanwhile the See also:siege of insular Tyre was closely pressed; its See also:water-See also:supply was cut off, and it was compelled to surrender. Assur-bani-pal was now at the height of his power. The See also:land of the See also:Manna (Minni), south-See also:east of See also:Ararat, had been wasted, its capital captured by the Assyrians, and its king reduced to See also:vassal-See also:age. A war with Teumman of See also:Elam had resulted in the over-throw of the Elamite army; the head of Teumman was sent to Nineveh, and another king, Umman-igas, appointed by the Assyrians. The kings of See also:Cilicia and the Tabal offered their daughters to the See also:harem of Assur-bani-pal; embassies came from Ararat, and even See also:Gyges of See also:Lydia despatched envoys to the great king " in the hope of obtaining help against the Cimmerians. Suddenly the mighty empire began to totter. The Lydian king, finding that Nineveh was helpless to assist him, turned instead to Egypt and furnished the mercenaries with whose help See also:Psammetichus drove the Assyrians out of the country and suppressed his brother satraps. Egypt was thus lost to Assyria for ever (66o B.C.). In Babylonia, moreover, discontent was arising, and finally Samas-sum-yukin put himself at the head of the national party and declared war upon his brother. Elamite aid was readily forthcoming, especially when stimulated by bribes, and the Arab tribes joined in the revolt. The resources of the Assyrian empire were strained to their utmost. But thanks in some measure to the See also:intestine troubles in Elam, the Babylonian army and its See also:allies were defeated and driven into Babylon, See also:Sippara, See also:Borsippa and Cutha. One by one the. cities See also:fell, Babylon being finally starved into surrender (648 B.C.) after Samas-sum-yukin had burnt himself in his See also:palace to avoid falling into the conqueror's hands. It was now the turn of the See also:Arabs, some of whom had been in Babylon during the siege, while others had occupied themselves in plundering See also:Edom, See also:Moab and the Hauran. See also:Northern See also:Arabia was traversed by the Assyrian forces, the See also:Nabataeans were almost exterminated, and the See also:desert tribes terrorized into See also:order. Elam was alone See also:left to be dealt with, and the last resources of the empire were therefore expended in preventing it from ever being again a See also:thorn in the Assyrian side. But the effort had exhausted Assyria. Drained of men and resources it was no longer able to make head against the Cimmerian and Scythian hordes who now poured over western See also:Asia. The Cimmerian Dugdamme (Lygdamis in See also:Strabo i. 3, 16), whom Assur-bani-pal calls " a See also:limb of Satan," after sacking See also:Sardis, had been slain in Cilicia, but other Scythian invaders came to take his place. When Assur-bani-pal died in 626 (?) B.C. his empire was already in decay, and within a few years the end came. He was luxurious and indolent, entrusting the command of his armies to others whose successes he appropriated, cruel and superstitious, but a magnificent patron of See also:art and literature. The great library of Nineveh was to a considerable extent his creation, and See also:scribes were kept constantly employed in it copying the older tablets of Babylonia, though unfortunately their patron's tastes inclined rather to omens and See also:astrology than to subjects of more See also:modern See also:interest. The library was contained in the palace that he built on the northern side of the See also:mound of Kuyunjik and lined with sculptured slabs which display Assyrian art at its best. Whether Kandalanu (Kineladanos), who became See also:viceroy of Babylonia after the suppression of the revolt, was Assur-bani-pal under another name, or a different personage, is still doubtful (see SARDANAPALUS).
AuTHOR1TIEs.-See also:George See also: See also:Jensen in E. See also:Schrader's Keilinschsiftliche Bibllothek, (t889); J. A. Knudtzon, Assyrische Gebete an den Sonnengott (1893) ; C. See also:Lehmann, Schamashschumukin (1892). (A. H. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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