United States or British Indian Ocean Territory ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Ashurnasirbal's father bears the name Tukulti-Ninib. See above, pp. 151, 206. One of the gates of Sargon's palace is called after Nin-ib. See above, p. 57. See above, pp. 92-94. Kosmologie, pp. 457-475. He is also called the offspring of a goddess, Ku-tu-shar, but this reference is not clear. See Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 468, note 5. In a religious text he is addressed as 'holy, holy, holy.
who, originally a distinct solar deity, becomes scarcely distinguishable from Nin-girsu, and is eventually identified with the great Nin-ib.
Nergal not only shares with Nin-ib, as already mentioned, the honor of being the god under whose auspices the royal chase is carried on, but he is also, like Nin-ib, invoked in that other sport of which the Assyrian rulers were so fond, war. He is scarcely differentiated from Nin-ib.
The temple sacred to him at Girsu was called E-ninnu, and also by a longer name that described the god as the one 'who changes darkness into light, the reference being to the solar character of the god Nin-ib with whom Nin-girsu is identified.
Since we hear little of her worship in Assyria, beyond the notices of Sennacherib, we may conclude that, like so many goddesses, Shala dwindled to the insignificant proportions of a mere pale reflection of the male deity. Nin-ib. Another god, who by virtue of his violent traits enjoys the favor of the Assyrian rulers, is the old Babylonian deity whose name is provisionally read Nin-ib.
When Uru-azagga becomes a part of Lagash, Bau's dignity is heightened to that of 'mother of Lagash. As the consort of Ningirsu, she is identified with the goddess Gula, the name more commonly applied to the 'princely mistress' of Nin-ib, whose worship continues down to the days of the neo-Babylonian monarchy.
Similarly, other of the Assyrian rulers emphasize the strength of Nin-ib. Tiglathpileser I. calls him the courageous one, whose special function is the destruction of the king's enemies. In doing so he becomes the god 'who fulfills the heart's desire. The unmistakable character of the god as a god of war is also shown by his association with Ashur.
In the chapter on the pantheon before Hammurabi, the identity of Nin-ib with the chief god of Gudea's district, Nin-girsu, has been pointed out. The solar character of the latter being clear, it follows that Nin-ib, too, is originally a personification of the sun, like Nin-gish-zida and Nin-shakh, whose rôles are absorbed by Nin-ib.
One might be led to regard it as strange that a god like Nin-ib, or Shamash, should claim so large a share of the attention of the Assyrian rulers, to the apparent neglect of Ashur, but it must be borne in mind that the position of Ashur was so assured as to be beyond the reach of rivalry.
They either proceeded to districts where these animals were to be found, or they had large parks laid out near their residences, which were then stocked with material for the chase. Ashurnasirbal does not shun a long journey to distant mountainous regions to seek for sport, and it is Nin-ib whom he invokes, together with Nergal.
Word Of The Day