either Ishtar or the pale 'reflection'
associated with Ashur as his consort. Now this Belit, as the wife of
Ashur, absorbs the qualities that distinguish Belit, the wife of
Bel-Marduk. The temple in the city of Ashur, which Tiglathpileser
I.[295] enriches with presents consisting of the images of the deities
vanquished by the king, may in reality have been sacred to the Belit of
Babylonia, but Tiglathpileser, for whom Bel becomes merely a designation
of Marduk, does not feel called upon to pay his devotions to the
Babylonian Sarpanitum, and so converts the old Belit into 'the lofty
wife, beloved of Ashur.' Sargon, on the other hand, who calls one of the
gates of his palace _Belit ilani_ 'mistress of the gods,' seems to mean
by this, the consort of Ea.[296] Similarly, Ashurbanabal regards Belit
as the wife of Ashur, and himself as the offspring of Ashur and Belit.
At the same time he gives to this Belit the title of 'mother of great
gods,' which of right belongs to the consort of the Babylonian Bel. In
the full pantheon as enumerated by him, Belit occupies a place
immediately behind her consort Ashur. Ashurbanabal, however, goes still
further, and, influenced by the title of 'Belit' as applied to Ishtar,
makes the latter the consort of Ashur. This at least is the case in an
inscription from the temple of Belit at Nineveh,[297] known as
E-mash-mash, and in which Ashurbanabal alternately addresses the goddess
as Belit and as Ishtar, while elsewhere[298] this same Belit, whose seat
is in E-mash-mash, is termed the consort of Ashur. How Ashurbanabal or
his scribes came to this confusing identification we need not stop to
inquire. In part, no doubt, it was due to the general sense of
'goddess,' which Ishtar began to acquire in his days.[299] At all
events, Ashurbanabal's conception marks a contrast to the procedure of
Shalmaneser II., who correctly identifies the mother of the great gods
with the wife of Bel.[300] On the other hand, the confusion that took
place in Ashurbanabal's days is foreshadowed by the title of 'Belit
mati,' _i.e._, 'mistress of the land,' by which Ashurbanabal appears to
designate some other than Ishtar.[301] Lastly, it is interesting to note
that Ashurbanabal recognizes by the side of Belit-Ishtar, the wife of
Ashur, the older Belit, the wife of the Bel of Nippur, to whom, in
association with Anu and Bel, he attributes his victory over the
Arabs.[302]

Sarpanitum.

The consort of Marduk is only in