Editing Anshar (section)

===Anshar and Ashur===
As attested for the first time in sources from the reign of [[Sargon II]], with the only possible earlier forerunner being a bead inscription from the reign of either [[Tukulti-Ninurta I]] or [[Tukulti-Ninurta II]], in [[Assyria]] the logogram AN.ŠÁR could be used to represent the name of the supreme deity of the state pantheon, [[Ashur (god)|Ashur]].{{sfn|Beaulieu|1997|p=64}} Under [[Sennacherib]] it became the conventional writing of Ashur's name.{{sfn|Beaulieu|2003|p=331}} The goal of this equation was to establish the seniority of Ashur over [[Marduk]], who in the light of the genealogy of deities presented in the ''Enūma Eliš'' was a descendant of Anshar.{{sfn|Allen|2015|p=157}}

[[Paul-Alain Beaulieu]] suggests that the logogram AN.ŠÁR also designates Assur in texts from Neo-Babylonian [[Uruk]].{{sfn|Beaulieu|2003|pp=331-332}} He points out that they indicate AN.ŠÁR was actively worshiped, which would be unusual if the name referred to the primordial god.{{sfn|Beaulieu|1997|p=58}} A small shrine dedicated to AN.ŠÁR is attested in sources from the Neo-Babylonian and early [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] periods, but it is uncertain when his cult was introduced to the city.{{sfn|Krul|2018|p=15}} It might have originally been established either when the city was under the control of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]], or later on by a group of [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] immigrants.{{sfn|Beaulieu|1997|p=61}} In the former case, the worship of Ashur in Uruk would most likely reflect a political alliance between local elites and the Assyrian state, as there is no evidence his cult was imposed in any [[Babylonia]]n cities.{{sfn|Beaulieu|1997|p=62}}

Beaulieu argues that the identification between Anshar and Ashur was additionally meant to facilitate equating the latter with Anu.{{sfn|Beaulieu|1997|p=64}} He suggests this might have been the reason why Anu's prominence in the local pantheon of Uruk increased from the fifth century BCE onward.{{sfn|Beaulieu|1997|p=68}} Julia Krul disagrees with this proposal, and points out that while it is plausible that in Uruk the clergy might have accepted the equation between Anshar and Ashur, there is no evidence that the latter was viewed as related to Anu, or that theological ideas pertaining to him influenced Anu's cult.{{sfn|Krul|2018|p=15}}

Piotr Steinkeller notes that the association between Anshar and Ashur might explain why [[Kakka]], a deity chiefly worshiped in [[Upper Mesopotamia]] rather than in Babylonia, appears as a messenger of the former in the ''Enūma Eliš''.{{sfn|Steinkeller|1982|p=293}}{{efn|However, in the [[Sultantepe]] version of the myth ''[[Nergal#Nergal and Ereshkigal|Nergal and Ereshkigal]]'' Kakka is a messenger of Anu instead.{{sfn|Steinkeller|1982|p=293}}}}