[226] The Assyrian kings are fond of mentioning foreign deities, and of adding them to their pantheon. In his annals (VR. col. vi. ll. 30-43) Ashurbanabal gives a list of twenty Elamitic deities captured by him.
[227] Tiele (Babyl.-Assyr. Geschichte, p. 519) suggests Ea.
[228] An interesting example of this tendency is furnished by a tablet published by T. G. Pinches (Journal of the Victoria Institute, xxviii. 8-10), in which the name Marduk is treated almost as a generic term for deity. Nergal is called 'the Marduk of warfare'; Nebo, 'the Marduk of earthly possessions'; Ninib, 'the Marduk of strength'; En-lil, 'the Marduk of sovereignty'; and so on, in a long enumeration, the gods are regarded as so many forms of Marduk. Pinches' conclusion that the list points to monotheistic beliefs is, however, unwarranted. The list only illustrates a tendency towards a centralization of divine powers in Marduk, that accompanies the political centralization of the period.
[229] See below, pp. [228], [229].
[230] So the gods of the Assyrian pantheon are generally termed in the inscriptions of the kings.
[233] A description of this symbol occurs in a text of Sennacherib (Meissner-Rost, Bauinschriften Sanherib's, p. 94). The symbol itself is found on sculptured slabs and on seal cylinders.
[234] So Sennacherib still speaks of Images of Ashur, and of the great gods erected by him (Meissner-Rost, Bauinschriften Sanherib's, p. 94).
[235] See Stevenson, "The Feather and the Wing in Mythology," Oriental Studies of the Phila. Oriental Club, pp. 236-239.