The subject of Mesopotamian royal ideology, even confined to one period, is of course vast, but there are certain points salient in the present volume which should be singled out and brought forward for notice. Sargonid scribes frequently wrote the name of the Assyrian national god, Aššur, with the signs AN.ŠÁR, originally used to designate a primeval deity in Babylonian theogonies, whereas earlier scribes did not do so. Behind this scribal innovation lies an ideological coup. In one Babylonian theogonic system, Anšar and Kišar — literally "heaven circle" and "earth circle" — precede the senior Babylonian gods Enlil and Ninlil, separated from them by Enurulla and Ninurulla ("Lord" and "Lady" of the "primeval city" ).[[3]] In this way, the Assyrian Aššur, who did not figure in the Babylonian pantheon at all, was made to appear to be at the head of it. A form of this ideology is stated in the Marduk Ordeal, no. 34, l. 54: "It is said in Enuma Eliš: When heaven and earth were not yet created, Aššur (AN.ŠÁR) came into being."
A further point which is relevant to the understanding of some passages is the virtual identity of the god Aššur and the city Assur. While it was not unusual for a god to be evoked by the name of his temple — or even occasionally by the name of the city of which he was patron — recently collected evidence shows that Aššur, city and god, constitutes a special case.[[4]] Being a numinous phenomenon associated with a particular locality, and originally lacking a personified identity, the god Aššur did not at first have a family as was usual with Babylonian and Sumerian gods. At a later stage Enlil's (Illil's) wife, Ninlil (Mullissu) was attributed to him, identifying Aššur himself to some extent with Enlil. Later, as can be seen for example in the Aššur hymn, no. 1, he took on attributes of Marduk, particularly strongly during the reign of Sennacherib. It is well known that the Assyrian kings considered themselves to be the appointees of the god Aššur, in which capacity they also exercised the highest priestly function in his temple. It is interesting to note the extension of this idea to actual genealogical relationship, both with the god Aššur and with the !stars of Nineveh and Arbela ( stated clearly in nos. 3, 11, and 13).[[5]] Finally it is perhaps instructive to observe an occasional similarity in terminology between statements of Aššur's relationship to Assurbanipal, and the latter's relationship to foreign rulers trained at the Assyrian court and installed by him (e.g. no. 3, obv. 23 compared with no. 31, rev. 12).
3 See W. G. Lambert, "Göttergenealogie," RIA 3 (1971), 469ff.
4 W. G. Lambert, "The God Aššur," Iraq 45 (1983) 82ff. Cf. the identification of Athena with Athens, discussed by M. P. Milsson in Geschichte der Griechischen Religion,, Bd. I, (2. Auflage, München 1955), p. 433ff.
5 Part of the background is discussed by W. G. Lambert, "The Seed of Kingship," in CRRAI 19 (1974), 427ff.
Alasdair Livingstone
Alasdair Livingstone, 'Aššur, Anšar, and Royal Ideology', Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea, SAA 3. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1989; online contents: SAAo/SAA03 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa03/culturalandhistoricalbackground/ashurandroyalideology/]