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Updated: June 9, 2025
His consort bears a name that is simply the feminine form to Anu, just as Belit is the feminine to Bel. 'Anu, signifying 'the one on high, a feminine to it was formed, manifestly under the influence of the notion that every god must have a consort of some kind. After Agumkakrimi no further mention of Anatum occurs, neither in the inscriptions of Babylonian nor of Assyrian rulers.
Clay figures of gods and goddesses were also made in moulds or modelled by hand and served as votive offerings. At Nippur, the images represent chiefly Bel and Belit, either separately or in combination; but figurines of Ishtar have also been found. In some the goddess is represented as suckling a child. Often she is pictured as naked, clasping her breasts or her womb.
From being the messenger of Bel, he comes to be viewed as the messenger of the gods in general, and accordingly Ashurbanabal addresses him as 'the highly honored messenger of the gods, but, combining with the mythological the more realistic aspect of Nusku, refers to him also as the one who glorifies sovereignty and who, at the command of Ashur and Belit, stands at the king's side to aid in bringing the enemies to fall.
Lastly, it is interesting to note that Ashurbanabal recognizes by the side of Belit-Ishtar, the wife of Ashur, the older Belit, the wife of the Bel of Nippur, to whom, in association with Anu and Bel, he attributes his victory over the Arabs. Sarpanitum.
Much the same train of thought that led to regarding Bel in the sense of 'lord, merely as a title of Marduk, gave rise to the use of 'Belit, as the title of the great 'lady' of the Assyrian pantheon. From this it is but a small but of course erroneous step, to speak of Belit-Ishtar as the consort of Bel.
Under the influence of this Assyrian extension of the term, Nabopolassar, in the Neo-Babylonian period, applies the title to the consort of Shamash at Sippar, but he is careful to specify 'Belit of Sippar, in order to avoid misunderstanding.
Now Ishtar never appears in this capacity in the Babylonian inscriptions. If there is one goddess with whom she has nothing in common, it is Belit of Nippur. To account for this curious statement on the part of the Assyrian scribes, it is only necessary to bear in mind that the name Belit signifies 'lady, and Ishtar is constantly spoken of as the Belit or lady of battle.
As for the cult, the Assyrian kings were at great pains to leave it undisturbed, or where it had been interrupted to restore it, and thus secure the favor of the southern gods. So Shalmaneser II. upon the completion of his campaign enters Marduk's great temple at Babylon, E-sagila, and offers prayers and sacrifices to Bel and Belit, i.e., Marduk and Sarpanitum.
We have already come across several instances; thus Nin-girsu, the lord of Girsu, has been shown to be a form of Ninib, itself an ideogram, the reading of which, it will be recalled, is still uncertain; and again, Nin-khar-sag has been referred to, as one of the titles of the great goddess Belit.
At the close, the king Agumkakrimi appeals to Anu and his consort Anatum, who are asked to bless the king in heaven, to Bel and Belit who are asked to fix his fate on earth, and to Ea and Damkina, inhabiting the deep, who are to grant him long life.
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