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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.
Upon coming to Babylonia, they do not fail to bring presents of gold, silver, precious stones, copper, iron, purple, precious garments, and scented woods to Marduk and Sarpanitum, to Nabu and Tashmitum, and the other great gods. The first fruits of extensive groves are offered by Ashurnasirbal to Ashur and the temples of his land.
Again, in the formal curses which the kings called down upon the destroyers of the inscriptions or statues that they set up, the appeal to Anu, Bel, and Ea is made. Ashurnasirbal calls upon the triad not to listen to the prayers of such as deface his monuments. Sargon has an interesting statement in one of his inscriptions, according to which the names of the months were fixed by Anu, Bel, and Ea.
The statement that the Ishtar cult was introduced or even reinstated by Ashurnasirbal can hardly be taken literally; but it distinctly points to a movement in the days of the dynasty to which the king belonged, that brought the worship of the goddess into great prominence.
Hence, there results the fusion with the Babylonian Bel, which has already been noted, and it is due to this fusion that Dagan disappears almost entirely from the Assyrian pantheon. Ashurnasirbal invokes Dagan with Anu.
Ashur gives way under the glorious reign of Ashurnasirbal to Calah, which becomes the capitol in the year 880 B.C.; and Calah, in turn, yields to Nineveh, which becomes, from the time of Tiglathpileser II., in the middle of the eighth century, the center of the great kingdom. Under Ashurbanabal, who rules from 668 to 626 B.C., the climax of Assyrian power is reached.
The inscriptions of the Assyrian kings, especially in the introductions, manifest little originality. One king, or rather his scribe, frequently copies from earlier productions, or imitates them. Like Ashurnasirbal, he declared himself to have been chosen by this god to occupy the throne. A comparison of the two lists makes it evident that the later one is modeled upon the earlier production.
If Ashur is the king of Igigi and Anunnaki, Nin-ib is the hero of the heavenly and earthly spirits. To him the rulers fly for help. Of all the kings, Ashurnasirbal seems to have been especially devoted to the service of Nin-ib.
Nergal's consort is Laz, but she is not referred to by the Assyrian rulers. Sin. The old Babylonian moon-god plays a comparatively insignificant rôle in Assyria. Ashurnasirbal speaks of a temple that he founded in Calah perhaps only a chapel in honor of Sin. It could not have been of much importance, for we learn nothing further about it.
Tiglathpileser I. calls him 'the great lord ruling the assembly of gods, and in similar style, Ashurnasirbal invokes him as 'the great god of all the gods. For Ramman-nirari III., he is the king of the Igigi the heavenly host of spirits. Sargon lovingly addresses him as the father of the gods.
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