inine counterpart of Bel;
Gala, the Sun-goddess, the wife of Shamas; and Ishtar, who is sometimes
represented as the wife of Nebo. To the same class belong Sheruha, the
wife of Asshur; Anata or Anuta, the wife of Anu; Dav-Kina, the wife of
Hea or Hoa; Shales, the wife of Vul or Iva; Zir-banit, the wife of
Merodach; and Laz, the wife of Nergal. Nin, the Assyrian Hercules, and
Sin, the Moon-god, have also wives, whose proper names are unknown, but
who are entitled respectively "the Queen of the Land" and "the great
Lady." Nebo's wife, according to most of the Inscriptions, is Warmita;
but occasionally, as above remarked, this name is replaced by that of
Ishtar. A tabular view of the gods and goddesses, thus far, will
probably be found of use by the reader towards obtaining a clear
conception of the Assyrian Pantheon:

[Illustration: Page 358]

It appears to have been the general Assyrian practice to unite together
in the same worship, under the same roof, the female and the male
principle. The female deities had in fact, for the most part, an
unsubstantial character: they were ordinarily the mere reflex image of
the male, and consequently could not stand alone, but required the
support of the stronger sex to give then something of substance and
reality. This was the general rule; but at the same time it was not
without certain exceptions. Ishtar appears almost always as an
independent and unattached divinity; while Beltis and Gula are presented
to us in colors as strong and a form as distinct as their husbands, Bel
and Shamas. Again, there are minor goddesses, such as Telita, the
goddess of the great marshes near Babylon, who stand alone,
unaccompanied by any male. The minor male divinities are also, it would
seem, very generally without female counterparts.

Of these minor male divinities the most noticeable are Martu, a son of
Anu, who is called "the minister of the deep," and seems to correspond
to the Greek Erebus; Sargana, another son of Anu, from whom Sargon is
thought by some to have derived his name Idak, god of the Tigris;
Supulat, lord of the Euphrates; and Il or Ra, who seems to be the
Babylonian chief god transferred to Assyria, and there placed in a
humble position. Besides these, cuneiform scholars recognize in the
Inscriptions some scores of divine names, of more or less doubtful
etymology, some of which are thought to designate distinct gods, while
others may be names of deities known familiarly to us u