of her worship in Assyria, beyond the notices of
Sennacherib, we may conclude that, like so many goddesses, Shala
dwindled to the insignificant proportions of a mere pale reflection of
the male deity.

Nin-ib.

Another god, who by virtue of his violent traits enjoys the favor of the
Assyrian rulers, is the old Babylonian deity whose name is provisionally
read Nin-ib. In the very first mention of him, in the inscription of
Ashurrishishi (_c._ 1150 B.C.), he is called the 'mighty one of the
gods.' Through the protection of Nin-ib, Ashurrishishi secures victory
over his enemies on all sides. Similarly, other of the Assyrian rulers
emphasize the strength of Nin-ib. Tiglathpileser I. calls him the
courageous one, whose special function is the destruction of the king's
enemies. In doing so he becomes the god 'who fulfills the heart's
desire.' The unmistakable character of the god as a god of war is also
shown by his association with Ashur.[272] If Ashur is the king of Igigi
and Anunnaki, Nin-ib is the hero of the heavenly and earthly spirits. To
him the rulers fly for help. Of all the kings, Ashurnasirbal seems to
have been especially devoted to the service of Nin-ib. The annals of
this king, instead of beginning, as is customary, with an invocation of
all or many of the gods, starts out with an address to Nin-ib, in which
the king fairly exhausts the vocabulary of the language in his desire to
secure the favor of this powerful deity. Almost all the attributes he
assigns to him have reference to the god's powers in war. Dwelling in
the capital Calah, he is 'the strong, the mighty, the supreme one,' the
perfect hero, who is invincible in battle, the 'destroyer of all
opposition, who holds the lock of heaven and earth, who opens the deep;
the strong one, endowed with youthful vigor, whose decree is
unchangeable, without whom no decision is made in heaven or on earth,
whose attack is like a flood, who sweeps away the land of his enemies,'
and so forth, through a bewildering array of epithets. The inscriptions
of the Assyrian kings, especially in the introductions, manifest little
originality. One king, or rather his scribe, frequently copies from
earlier productions, or imitates them. Hence, it happens that the
grandson of Ashurnasirbal, Shamshi-Ramman (_c._ 825-812 B.C.), furnishes
us with an almost equally long array of epithets, exalting the strength
and terror of Nin-ib. Like Ashurnasirbal, he declared himself to have
be