hing the sun-god to obtain an oracle, make mention of Marduk by
the side of Shamash. There are, however, a number of passages in the
Assyrian inscriptions in which when Bel is spoken of, not Marduk but the
old god Bel is meant.

Bel.

Tiglathpileser I. tells us that he rebuilt a temple to Bel in the city
of Ashur, and he qualifies the name of the god by adding the word 'old'
to it. In this way he evidently distinguished the god of Nippur from
Bel-Marduk, similarly as Hammurabi in one place adds Dagan to Bel,[290]
to make it perfectly clear what god he meant. Again, it is Sargon who in
consistent accord with his fondness for displaying his archaeological
tastes, introduces Bel, the 'great mountain,' 'the lord of countries,'
who dwells in E-khar-sag-kurkura, _i.e._, the sacred mountain on which
the gods are born, as participating in the festival that takes place
upon the dedication of the king's palace in Khorsabad. The titles used
by the king are applicable only to the old Bel, but whether he or his
scribes were fully conscious of a differentiation between Bel and
Bel-Marduk, it is difficult to say. Bel is introduced in the inscription
in question[291] immediately after Ashur, and one is therefore inclined
to suspect that Sargon's archaeological knowledge fails him at this
point in speaking of the old Bel, whereas he really meant to invoke the
protection of Bel-Marduk as the chief god of his most important
possession next to Assyria.[292] Besides this, the old Bel is of course
meant, when associated with Anu, as the powers that, together with
Belit, grant victory,[293] or as a member of the old triad, Anu, Bel,
and Ea, whose mention we have seen is as characteristic of the Assyrian
inscriptions as of the Babylonian. Lastly, Sargon calls one of the gates
of his palace after Bel, whom he designates as the one who lays the
foundation of all things. In this case, too, the old Bel is meant.

Belit.

In the case of Belit a curious species of confusion confronts us in the
Assyrian inscriptions. At times Belit appears as the wife of Bel, again
as the consort of Ashur, again as the consort of Ea, and again simply as
a designation of Ishtar.[294] To account for this we must bear in mind,
as has already been pointed out, that just as Bel in the sense of lord
came to be applied merely as a title of the chief god of Babylonia, so
Belit as 'lady' was used in Assyria to designate the chief goddess. This
was, as the case may be,