Shamas, the Sun-god, though in rank inferior to Sin, seems to have been a still more favorite and more universal object of worship.  From many passages we should have gathered that he was second only to Asshur in the estimation of the Assyrian monarchs, who sometimes actually place him above Bel in their lists.  His emblem, the four-rayed orb, is worn by the king upon his neck, and seen more commonly than almost any other upon the cylinder-seals.  It is even in some instances united with that of Asshur, the central circle of Asshur’s emblem being marked by the fourfold rays of Shamas.

The worship of Shamas was ancient in Assyria.  Tiglath-Pileser I., not only names him in his invocation, but represents himself as ruling especially under his auspices.  Asshur-izir-pal mentions Asshur and Shamas as the tutelary deities under whose influence he carried on his various wars.  His son, the Black-Obelisk king, assigns to Shamas his proper place among the gods whose favor he invokes at the commencement of his long Inscription.  The kings of the Lower Empire were even more devoted to him than their predecessors.  Sargon dedicated to him the north gate of his city, in conjunction with Vul, the god of the air, built a temple to him at Khorsabad in conjunction with Sin, and assigned him the third place among the tutelary deities of his new town.  Sennacherib and Esarhaddon mention his name next to Asshur’s in passages where they enumerate the gods whom they regard as their chief protectors.

Excepting at Khorsabad, where he had a temple (as above mentioned) in conjunction with Sin, Shamas does not appear to have had any special buildings dedicated to his honor.  His images are, however, often noticed in the lists of idols, and it is probable therefore that he received worship in temples dedicated to other deities.  His emblem is generally found conjoined with that of the moon, the two being placed side by side, or the one directly under the other. [PLATE CXLII., Fig. 3.]

VUL, or IVA.

This god, whose name is still so uncertain, was known in Assyria from times anterior to the independence, a temple having been raised in his sole honor at Asshur, the original Assyrian capital, by Shamas-Vul, the son of the Chaldaean king Ismi-Dagon, besides the temple (already mentioned) which the same monarch dedicated to him in conjunction with Anu.  These buildings having fallen to ruin by the time of Tiglath-Pileser I., were by him rebuilt from their base; and Vul, who was worshipped in both, appears to have been regarded by that monarch as one of his special “guardian deities.”  In the Black-Obelisk invocation Vul holds the place intermediate between Sin and Shamas, and on the same monument is recorded the fact that the king who erected it held, on one occasion, a festival to Vul in conjunction with Asshur.  Sargon names Vul in the fourth place among the tutelary deities of his city, and dedicates to him the north gate in conjunction with the Sun-god, Shamas.  Sennacherib speaks of hurling thunder on his enemies like Vul, and other kings use similar expressions.  The term Vul was frequently employed as an element in royal and other names; and the emblem which seems to have symbolized him—­the double or triple bolt—­appears constantly among those worn by the kings, and engraved above their heads on the rock-tablets. [PLATE CXLII., Fig. 4.]