s, a point to which I shall revert later on in
dealing with Egypt. In Northern Assyria when the cult of Nabu superseded
that of Marduk, his temple was named "the house of the sceptre of the
world" and Nebuchadnezzar declares that it is he "who gives the sceptre of
sovereignty to kings to rule over the land" (Jastrow, _op. cit._ 129).

Simultaneously with the staff, the cross and wheel also became emblems of
sovereignty. It has already been shown that the cross and four-spoked
wheel of Shamash were synonymous signs. It remains to be shown how the
wheel was employed in Babylonia and Assyria as an emblem of royalty. The
representation of Shamash at Sippar exhibits his wheel resting, in a
perpendicular position, on a table. Attached to the wheel are two cords
which are held by a "god" and his consort, who appear to be directing the
course of the wheel. We thus see that, whereas the disk or wheel of Assur,
the central god, revolved on its own axis, and was provided with wings,
signifying aerial and celestial motion, the wheel of Shamash was
associated with a "lord and lady," and the symbolism appears to express
that they were the directors of the "wheel of the law" of terrestrial
government. It is well known that, beside the throne, the emblem of
permanent repose, the Assyrian monarchs also used the chariot as a royal
prerogative.

In the Gilgamesh epic the goddess Ishtar, on conferring sovereignty upon
Gilgamesh, says: "I will place thee on a chariot of lapis-lazuli and gold,
with wheels of gold...." On studying the Nimroud bas-reliefs in the
British Museum I noted the fact that the trappings of the horse driven by
king Asurnasirpal, who is represented as standing in his two-wheeled
chariot, are decorated with crosses. It is impossible not to recognize the
affinity of the "wheel of the law" and the "lord of the wheel" of India
with the Assyrian symbols of Polaris and of central rulership and to
appreciate the naive ingenuity of the idea of making the driving of the
chariot by the king represent his control of the rotating wheels of state
and government of the four quarters from a stable centre.(105)

As another example of the Assyrian employment of the cross-symbol, the
bas-relief at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, should be mentioned, as it
displays a winged bird-headed human figure, whose garments are embroidered
with crosses.

King Asurnasirpal, who is alternately figured on his throne or in his
chariot, is frequently r