Editing Anshar (section)

==Mythology==
===''Enūma Eliš''===
Anshar's role in the conventional genealogy of [[Anu]] resulted in his incorporation into the ''[[Enūma Eliš]]''.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=405}} The text does not explicitly state whether he and [[Kishar]] are the children of [[Lahmu]] and [[Lahamu]], or instead a second pair of [[Apsu]]'s and [[Tiamat]]'s children.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=417}} However, the former option is considered the correct interpretation.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=432}} Anshar serves for a time as the [[king of the gods]].{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=448}} His grandson [[Ea (god)|Ea]] informs him about Tiamat plotting against the younger deities, which prompts Anshar to blame him and task him with finding a solution.{{sfn|Foster|2005|p=446}} After he fails, Anshar sends Anu to attempt to solve the issue, but he is similarly unsuccessful.{{sfn|Foster|2005|p=447}} Ea eventually convinces him that the only god who can defeat Tiamat is his own son, [[Marduk]].{{sfn|Foster|2005|p=450-451}} Anshar then summons his attendant [[Kakka]] to inform Lahmu and Lahamu about his decision to rely on Marduk.{{sfn|Foster|2005|p=452}} After emerging victorious, Marduk replaces Anshar as the new king of the gods.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=453}} The latter is the first deity to provide him with new names.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=456}} He states that Marduk will be known as [[Asalluhi]]{{sfn|Foster|2005|p=472}} and subsequently partakes in further name-giving alongside Lahmu and Lahamu.{{sfn|Foster|2005|p=475}}

In an [[Assyria]]n recension of the ''Enūma Eliš'', known only from a number of incomplete late copies from [[Assur]] and [[Nineveh]] tentatively dated to the reign from [[Sennacherib]], the logogram AN.ŠÁR is used to refer to both Anshar himself and to [[Ashur (god)|Ashur]], who replaces Marduk as the protagonist, but is also identified with the aforementioned primordial deity.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|pp=4-5}} As noted by [[Wilfred G. Lambert]], the change is "superficial" and "leaves the plot in chaos by attributing Marduk's part to his great-grandfather, without making any attempt to iron out the resulting confusion".{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=5}} This rewrite might be referenced in a late Assyrian commentary on the ''Enūma Eliš'', which states that Anshar came into being "when heaven and [[Ancient Mesopotamian underworld|underworld]] had not been created" but "city and house were in existence", which reflects the role of Marduk (and thus Ashur) more accurately than that of Anshar himself.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=7}}

An esoteric commentary linking passages from the ''Enūma Eliš'' with various ritual observances from [[Babylon]] states that Anshar sending Anu to confront Tiamat corresponds to the celebrations during which [[Mandanu]] headed to Ḫursagkalamma ([[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]]).{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=138}}

===Other compositions===
Anshar is referenced in passing in the myth ''[[Ninlil#Enlil and Sud|Enlil and Sud]]''{{sfn|Black|2006|p=108}} and in a hymn to [[Haya (god)|Haya]] from the reign of [[Rim-Sîn I]].{{sfn|Black|2006|p=295}}

Anshar appears in multiple lists of defeated primordial figures alongside [[Asag]], [[Enmesharra]], [[Lugaldukuga]], [[Qingu]] and others.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|pp=211-212}} Such enumerations are embedded in a number of expository or ritual texts.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|pp=212-213}} In one case, Anshar is equated in this context with the minor underworld god [[Alla (Mesopotamian god)|Alla]].{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=223}}

A royal hymn from the reign of [[Nebuchadnezzar I]] focused on establishing a connection between him and [[Enmeduranki]], a mythical king of [[Sippar]],{{sfn|Foster|2005|p=376}} mentions Anshar in passing and refers to [[Shuzianna]] as his sister.{{sfn|Foster|2005|p=378}}

A myth only known from five fragments dated to either [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]] or [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] period, four of which come from the same copy, refers to Anshar as the father of Anu.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=316}} While restoration of the text remains uncertain, it is possible that it describes his death at the hands of [[Enki]] and Ninamakalla,{{efn|This goddess is addressed as Enki's sister in this composition, but she is otherwise only known from the [[Sultantepe]] god list, where she occurs after [[Nanaya]] and [[Tashmetum]].{{sfn|Lambert|2013|pp=316-317}} Wilfred G. Lambert proposed identifying her with Nanaya.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=317}}}} which would indicate it preserves a succession narrative in which the actively worshiped members of the [[Mesopotamian pantheon]] depose a generation of primordial deities.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=317}}

A reference to Anshar has been identified in a quotation from [[Eudemus of Rhodes]] preserved by the [[Neoplatonism|Neo-Platonic]] philosopher [[Damascius]], according to which in Babylonian cosmology figures named Assōros and Kissarē were the parents of Anos (Anu), Illinos ([[Enlil]]) and Aos (Ea).{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=422}} It is presumed that Eudemus relied on a source related to the tradition represented by the ''Enūma Eliš'', but not identical with it.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|pp=422-423}}