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Ea takes his place in the Assyrian pantheon in the double capacity of god of wisdom and as a member of the old triad. Ashurnasirbal makes mention of a sanctuary erected to the honor of Ea in Ashur.
We may, therefore, fix upon the ninth century as the terminus for the Dagan cult in Assyria. Proper names compounded with Dagan do not occur after the days of Ashurnasirbal. Shamash. He calls Shamash the 'protecting deity, but the protection vouchsafed by Shamash is to be understood in a peculiar sense. Shamash does not work by caprice.
The king calls upon Ishtar to listen to his prayers: Look upon me, O lady, so that through thy turning towards me the heart of thy servant may become strong. Ashurnasirbal appeals to the goddess on the ground of what he has done to promote the glory of the goddess in his land. He has devoted himself to the service of the goddess. He has observed the festivals in her honor.
In return for all that he has done to the house of Ishtar, the king pleads: I, Ashurnasirbal, full of affliction, thy worshipper, Who takes hold of thy divine staff, Who prays to thy sovereignty, Look upon me and let me appeal to thy power! May thy liver be appeased for that which has aroused thy anger; Let thy whole heart be strong towards me.
Ashurnasirbal calls him so in his annals, e.g., col. iii. 1. 130. Bavian Inscription, ll. 48-50. See also Meissner-Rost, Bauinschriften Sanherib's, p. 102. The reading of the name of the city is not certain. It signifies 'city of palaces. c. 1120 B.C. II Rawlinson, 57, 33. So Tiglathpileser associates Ashur and Nin-ib, as those 'who fulfill his desire.
As the consort of Nin-ib, the Assyrians recognized Gula. She is only occasionally invoked by the Assyrian rulers. A sanctuary to Gula, as the consort of Nin-ib, is erected by Ashurnasirbal, and a festival in honor of the goddess is referred to by Ashurbanabal. Nergal.
The conclusion is justified that in the century covered by the reigns of Ashurnasirbal and Shamshi-Ramman, the cult of Nin-ib must have acquired great popularity, though suffering, perhaps, an interruption during the reign of Shalmaneser II., midway between these two kings, whose favorite we have seen was Shamash.
Peters ib. pp. 374, 375. See p. 536. E.g., Gen. xxxi. 19. See the specimens and descriptions in Découvertes en Chaldée, pl. 44 and p. 234. Ashurnasirbal, IR. 25, col. iii. ll. 91, 92. Winckler, Die Keilschrifttexte Sargon's Prunkinschrift, ll. 141-143. VR. 60, col. ii. ll. 11-16. See pp. 373-383. See above, p. 658.
Especially in the days of Ashurnasirbal and Shalmaneser II. the ninth century does the sun-cult receive great prominence. These kings call themselves the sun of the world.
Two centuries later, Sargon, whose scribes, as Jensen has noticed, manifest an 'archaeological' fondness for the earlier deities, repeats the phrase of Ashurnasirbal, and also calls his subjects 'troops of Anu and Dagan'; but it is important to observe that he does not include Dagan among the deities in whose honor he assigns names to the gates of his palace.
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