depended upon the place that the kings chose for their official
residence. At the same time, while the cult in the various temples that
in the course of time were erected in his honor probably continued
without interruption, there was always one place--the official
residence--which formed the central spot of worship. There the god was
supposed to dwell for the time being. One factor, perhaps, that ought to
be taken into consideration in accounting for this movable disposition
of the god was that he was not symbolized exclusively by a statue, as
Marduk and the other great gods were. His chief symbol was a standard
that could be carried from place to place, and indeed was so made that
it could be carried into the thick of the fray, in order to assure the
army of the god's presence. The standard consisted of a pole surrounded
by a disc enclosed within two wings, while above the disc stood the
figure of a warrior in the act of shooting an arrow.[233] The statues of
the gods were deposited in shrines, and after being carried about, as
was done on festive days or other occasions, they would be replaced in
their shrines. The military standard, however, followed the camp
everywhere, and when the kings chose to fix upon a new place for their
military encampment--and such the official residences of the Assyrian
warrior-kings in large measure were--the standard would repose in the
place selected. How this standard came to be chosen, and when, is
another question, and one more difficult to answer. It may be that the
representation of the god by a standard was a consequence of the
fondness that the rulers of Ashur manifested for perpetual warfare; or,
in other words, that the god Ashur was represented by a standard so that
he might be carried into the battle and be moved from place to place. At
all events, the two things--the standard and the warlike character of
the subjects of Ashur--stood in close relationship to one another, and
the further conclusion is justified that when a military standard came
to be chosen as the symbol of Ashur, the god was recognized distinctly
as a god of war. The symbols accompanying the standard are of importance
as enabling us to determine something more regarding the character of
Ashur. In the first place, the fact that it contained a figure may be
taken as an indication that the god was at one time represented by a
statue,--as indeed we know from other evidence,[234]--and that the
change of his symbo