254. SEAL CYLINDERS OF WESTERN ASIA. 
as helping him in hunting wild beasts. He built two temples, one of Ishtar “my 
mistress,” the other of Martu (same as Adad); he repaired temples of Anu and 
Adad; he repaired yet another sanctuary of Adad. He especially prides himself 
on his temples of Anu and Adad, and it 1s to these gods that he prays for male- 
dictions on any one who should destroy his memorial. We then gather from his 
very full inscription that besides Ishtar, goddess of battles, there was an honored god- 
dess Belit, who was now the wife of Ashur, instead of Bel. She must be a goddess 
of the greatest dignity, less active than Ishtar, however. We have seen her in the 
seated goddess, just as we find Ishtar in the standing goddess with the stars. It 
is evident that the god thus far chiefly depended on for active help was Adad. He is 
most often mentioned and in connection with Ishtar. We have, then, evidence from 
the texts, as well as from the nature of the engraved figure of the god we have been 
considering, that it is Adad—whether sitting, as we saw him in the previous 
chapter with his thunderbolt, or here standing with thunderbolt or ax or both, 
with quivers from his shoulders, and at times adorned with stars. 
The presence of stars affords the one point of evidence that this is not Adad 
but Adar. Such he has usually been considered, and I myself so regarded him, 
as Lenormant had taught us. But the further view and weight of both the texts 
and the nature of his weapons, seem to require us to identify Adad as the com- 
panion so often of Ishtar on the Assyrian cylinders. 
