whose protection he places himself. As a Cassitic
ruler, he assigns the first place to the chief Cassite deity, Shukamuna,
a god of war whom the Babylonian scholars identified with their own
Nergal.[162] Shukamuna is followed by the triad Anu, Bel, and Ea. Marduk
occupies a fifth place, after which comes a second triad, Sin, Shamash
"the mighty hero," and Ishtar[163] "the strong one among the gods." The
inscription is devoted to the king's successful capture of the statues
of Marduk and Sarpanitum out of the hands of the Khani, and the
restoration of the shrines of these deities at Babylon. At the close,
the king Agumkakrimi appeals to Anu and his consort Anatum,[164] 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,[165] who
are to grant him long life. As in the beginning of the inscription, the
thought of the triad--Anu, Bel, Ea--evidently underlies this interesting
invocation, but at the same time the association of a consort with Anu
brings the god into closer relationship with his fellows. He takes
on--if the contradiction in terms be permitted--a more human shape. 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. We are permitted to conclude,
therefore, that Anatum was a product of the schools, and one that never
took a strong hold on the popular mind. Among the Assyrian kings who in
other respects also show less dependence upon the doctrines evolved in
the Babylonian schools, and whose inscriptions reflect to a greater
degree the purely popular phases of the faith, we find Anu mentioned
with tolerable frequency, and in a manner that betrays less emphasis
upon the position of the god as a member of the triad. Still, it is
rather curious that he does not appear even in the inscriptions of the
Assyrian kings by himself, but in association with another god. Thus
Tiglathpileser I. (_c._ 1130 B.C.) gives an elaborate account of an old
temple to Anu and Ramman in the city of Ashur that he restores to more
than its former grandeur.[166] This dedication of a temple to two
deities is unusual. Ramman is