har is the same as the one who appears
in the cosmology. On the other hand, it is difficult to suppose that
Anshar should have played so significant a part in Babylonian traditions
and yet find no mention in the text of the rulers of Babylonia. Bearing
in mind what has been said as to the manner in which ancient traditions
and myths were remodeled by the schoolmen to conform to later ideas,--we
have seen how in this process the popularity of Marduk led to his
assuming the role originally played by Bel,--may not the recognition
given to Anshar be a concession, made at the time that Assyria had begun
her glorious career (_c._ 1400 B.C.), to the chief god of the northern
empire?

That such tendencies to glorify Ashur may justly be sought for in part
of the religious literature is proved by a version of one of the series
of tablets giving an account of the creation, and which assigns to
Anshar the work of building Esharra,--_i.e._, the earth,--that,
according to another version, belongs to Marduk.[242] Evidently, then,
just as the Babylonian theologians sought to glorify Marduk at the
expense of Bel, so Assyrian theologians, or such as stood under Assyrian
influences, did not hesitate to replace Marduk by their own favorite,
Anshar. In the chapter on the 'Cosmology' we will have occasion to come
back to this point. For present purposes it is sufficient to have shown
that the position of Anshar in the remodeled traditions is an argument
in favor of regarding Anshar as the real name of the god who stands at
the head of the Assyrian pantheon.

In the oldest Assyrian inscription known to us, the god Ashur is
mentioned. Samsi-Ramman, who does not yet assume the title of king, but
only _patesi_,--_i.e._, 'religious chief,'[243]--prides himself upon
being 'the builder of the temple of Ashur.' The phrase does not mean
that he founded the temple, but only that he undertook building
operations in connection with it. The date of this ruler may be fixed
roughly at 1850 B.C., and since the two inscribed bricks that we have of
Samsi-Ramman were found in the ruins of Kalah-Shergat,--the site of the
ancient city of Ashur,--there can, of course, be no doubt that the
temple at that place is referred to.

The rulers of Assyria, even after they assumed the title of 'king' (_c._
1500 B.C.), were still fond of calling themselves the 'priest' of the
god Ashur, and frequently gave this title the preference over others. In
the fourteenth century