with sun, moon, stars, water, and vegetation.  We may consistently connect Ashur with Aushar, “water field”, Anshar, “god of the height”, or “most high”, and with the eponymous King Asshur who went out on the land of Nimrod and “builded Nineveh”, if we regard him as of common origin with Tammuz, Osiris, and Attis—­a developed and localized form of the ancient deity of fertility and corn.

Ashur had a spouse who is referred to as Ashuritu, or Beltu, “the lady”.  Her name, however, is not given, but it is possible that she was identified with the Ishtar of Nineveh.  In the historical texts Ashur, as the royal god, stands alone.  Like the Hittite Great Father, he was perhaps regarded as the origin of life.  Indeed, it may have been due to the influence of the northern hillmen in the early Assyrian period, that Ashur was developed as a father god—­a Baal.  When the Hittite inscriptions are read, more light may be thrown on the Ashur problem.  Another possible source of cultural influence is Persia.  The supreme god Ahura-Mazda (Ormuzd) was, as has been indicated, represented, like Ashur, hovering over the king’s head, enclosed in a winged disk or wheel, and the sacred tree figured in Persian mythology.  The early Assyrian kings had non-Semitic and non-Sumerian names.  It seems reasonable to assume that the religious culture of the ethnic elements they represented must have contributed to the development of the city god of Asshur.

CHAPTER XV.

CONFLICTS FOR TRADE AND SUPREMACY

Modern Babylonia—­History repeating itself—­Babylonian Trade Route in Mesopotamia—­Egyptian Supremacy in Syria—­Mitanni and Babylonia—­Bandits who plundered Caravans—­Arabian Desert Trade Route opened—­Assyrian and Elamite Struggles with Babylonia—­Rapid Extension of Assyrian Empire—­Hittites control Western Trade Routes—­Egypt’s Nineteenth Dynasty Conquests—­Campaigns of Rameses II—­Egyptians and Hittites become Allies—­Babylonian Fears of Assyria—­Shalmaneser’s Triumphs—­Assyria Supreme in Mesopotamia—­Conquest of Babylonia—­Fall of a Great King—­Civil War in Assyria—­Its Empire goes to pieces—­Babylonian Wars with Elam—­Revival of Babylonian Power—­Invasions of Assyrians and Elamites—­End of the Kassite Dynasty—­Babylonia contrasted with Assyria.

It is possible that during the present century Babylonia may once again become one of the great wheat-producing countries of the world.  A scheme of land reclamation has already been inaugurated by the construction of a great dam to control the distribution of the waters of the Euphrates, and, if it is energetically promoted on a generous scale in the years to come, the ancient canals, which are used at present as caravan roads, may yet be utilized to make the whole country as fertile and prosperous as it was in ancient days.  When that happy consummation is reached, new cities may grow up and flourish beside the ruins of the old centres of Babylonian culture.