ot generally hold him in much repute; Sargon, however, is an
exception, perhaps because his own name closely resembled that of a god
mentioned as one of Anu's sons. Sargon not infrequently glorifies Anu,
coupling him with Bel or Bil, the second god of the first Triad. He even
made Anu the tutelary god of one of the gates of his new city,
Bit-Sargina (Khorsabad), joining him in this capacity with the goddess
Ishtar.

Anu had but few temples in Assyria. He seems to have had none at either
Nineveh or Calah, and none of any importance in all Assyria, except that
at Asshur. There is, however, reason, to believe that he was
occasionally honored with a shrine in a temple dedicated to another
deity.

BIL, or BEL.

The classical writers represent Bel as especially a Babylonian god, and
scarcely mention his worship by the Assyrians; but the monuments show
that the true Bel (called in the first part of this volume Bel-Nimrod)
was worshipped at least as much in the northern as in the southern
country. Indeed, as early as the time of Tiglath-Pileser I., the
Assyrians, as a nation, were especially entitled by their monarchs "the,
people of Belus;" and the same periphrasis was in use during the period
of the Lower Empire. According to some authorities, a particular quarter
of the city of Nineveh was denominated "the city of Belus" which would
imply that it was in a peculiar way under his protection. The word Bel
does not occur very frequently as an element in royal names: it was
borne, however, by at least three early Assyrian kings: and there is
evidence that in later times it entered as an element into the names of
leading personages with almost as much frequency as Asshur.

The high rank of Bel in Assyria is very strongly marked. In the
invocations his place is either the third or the second. The former is
his proper position, but occasionally Anu is omitted, and the name of
Bel follows immediately on that of Asshur. In one or two places he is
made third, notwithstanding that Anu is omitted, Shamas, the Sun-god,
being advanced over his head; but this is very unusual.

The worship of Bel in the earliest Assyrian times is marked by the royal
names of Bel-snmili-kapi and Bel-lush, borne by two of the most ancient
kings. He had a temple at Asshur in conjunction with Il or Ra, which
must have been of great antiquity, for by the time of Tiglath-Pileser I.
(B.C. 1130) it had fallen to decay and required a complete restoration,
whi