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The god plays a rôle in some of the ancient legends of Babylonia. Remains have been found of a kind of epic in which Dibbarra is the chief personage. In the historical texts he is once incidentally mentioned by Ashurbanabal, who in the course of his campaign against Babylonia describes how the corpses of those killed by Dibbarra, i.e., through hunger and want, filled the streets of the cities.
It is one of the last kings of Assyria, Ashurbanabal, who calls Sin 'the firstborn son of Bel. He appears in this relationship to Bel in the religious texts of Babylonia. The Bel here meant can only be the great god of Nippur, and the title 'son of Bel' accordingly shows that the moon-worship of Assyria is ultimately derived from that which had its seat in the south.
Again, examples of women as exorcisers and as furnishing oracles may be instanced in Babylonia as well as in Assyria, and we have also references to female musicians as late as the days of Ashurbanabal. A specially significant rôle was played by the priestesses in Ishtar's temple at Erech, and probably at other places where the cult of the great mother goddess was carried on.
That his body may be cast aside, No grave be his lot. The kings punished their enemies by leaving their bodies to rot in the sun, or they exposed them on poles as a warning to rebels. Ashurbanabal on one occasion speaks of having scattered the corpses of the enemy's host 'like thorns and thistles' over the battlefield.
On one occasion, when the army of Ashurbanabal approached a rushing stream which they were afraid to cross, Ishtar makes her appearance at night, and declares, "I walk in front of Ashurbanabal, the king who is the creation of my hands." The army, thus reassured, crosses the river in safety.
The two phases of the ideogram used in his name the sceptre and the stylus are thus united in the personage of Nusku precisely as in Nabu. On the other hand, the manner in which Ashurbanabal speaks of him reflects the mythological aspect of Nusku. In the religious literature Nusku is the messenger of Bel-Marduk, who conveys the message of the latter to Ea.
Elsewhere Anu appears in association with Dagan, of whom we shall have occasion to speak in the chapter on the Assyrian pantheon. Suffice it to say here that Dagan in this connection is an equivalent of Bel. When, therefore, Ashurbanabal and Sargon call themselves 'the favorite of Anu and Dagan, it is the same as though they spoke of Anu and Bel.
"O goddess of Arbela!" says Ashurbanabal, "I am Ashurbanabal, the king of Assyria, the product of thy hands, created by thee in the house of my father. To renew the sanctuaries of Assyria, and to enlarge the cities of Babylonia, ... have I devoted myself to thy dwelling-places, and have steadfastly worshipped thy sovereignty.... Hearken unto me!
At one time he enumerates Ashur, Sin, Shamash, Nabu, Marduk, Ishtar of Nineveh, Ishtar of Arbela; at another he prefers different combinations of these gods. Ashurbanabal is more consistent than most of the Assyrian rulers, and furnishes at the same time the best list.
Supplied from the context, through comparison with similar compositions. Lit., 'my soul cannot overcome. The composition continues in this strain, Ashurbanabal and Nabu speaking alternately. See Tiele, Babyl.-Assyr. Geschichte, pp. 371 seq. George Smith, Annals of Ashurbanabal, p. 121. Rassam Cylinder, VR. col. v. ll. 95-103. George Smith, Annals of Ashurbanabal, pp. 119-121.
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