This goddess was properly only the spouse of the older Bel， but as /Bêltu/， her Babylonian name， simply meant "lady" in general (just as /Bêl/ or /bêlu/ meant "lord")， it became a title which could be given to any goddess， and was in fact borne by Zer-pan？tum， I？tar， Nanaa， and others.It was therefore often needful to add the name of the city over which the special /Bêltu/ presided， in order to make clear which of them was meant.Besides being the title of the spouse of the older Bel， having her earthly seat with him in Niffur and other less important shrines， the Assyrians sometimes name Bêltu the spouse of A？？ur， their national god， suggesting an identification， in the minds of the priests， with that deity.
ênu-rê？tu or Nirig.[*]
Whether /ênu-rê？tu/ be a translation of /Nirig/ or not， is uncertain， but not improbable， the meaning being "primeval lord，" or something similar， and "lord" that of the first element， /ni/， in the Sumerian form.In support of this reading and rendering may be quoted the fact， that one of the descriptions of this divinity is /a？sarid ？lani ahê-？u/， "the eldest of the gods his brothers." It is noteworthy that this deity was a special favourite among the Assyrians， many of whose kings， to say nothing of private persons， bore his name as a component part of theirs.In the bilingual poem entitled /Ana-kime gimma/("Formed like Anu")， he is described as being the son of Bel (hence his appearance after Bel in the list printed above)， and in the likeness of Anu， for which reason， perhaps， his divinity is called "Anuship." Beginning with words praising him， it seems to refer to his attitude towards the gods of hostile lands， against whom， apparently， he rode in a chariot of the sacred lapis-lazuli.Anu having endowed him with terrible glory， the gods of the earth feared to attack him， and his onrush was as that of a storm-flood.By the command of Bel， his course was directed towards ê-kur， the temple of Bel at Niffur.
Here he was met by Nusku， the supreme messenger of Bel， who， with words of respect and of praise， asks him not to disturb the god Bel， his father， in his seat， nor make the gods of the earth tremble in Up？ukennaku (the heavenly festival-hall of the gods)， and offers him a gift.[？] It will thus be seen that ênu-rê？tu was a rival to the older Bel， whose temple was the great tower in stages called ê-kura， in which， in all probability， ê-？u-me-du， the shrine of ênu-rê？tu， was likewise situated.The inscriptions call him "god of war，" though， unlike Nergal， he was not at the same time god of disease and pestilence.To all appearance he was the god of the various kinds of stones， of which another legend states that he "determined their fate." He was "the hero， whose net overthrows the enemy， who summons his army to plunder the hostile land， the royal son who caused his father to bow down to him from afar." "The son who sat not with the nurse， and eschewed(？) the strength of milk，" "the offspring who did not know his father." "He rode over the mountains and scattered seed--unanimously the plants proclaimed his name to their dominion， among them like a great wild bull he raises his horns."[*] /ênu-rê？tu/ is the reading which I have adopted as the Semitic Babylonian equivalent of the name of this divinity， in consequence of the Aramaic transcription given by certain contract-tablets discovered by the American expedition to Niffer， and published by Prof.Clay of Philadelphia.
[？] The result of this request is not known， in consequence of the defective state of the tablets.
Many other interesting descriptions of the deity Nirig (generally read Nin-ip) occur， and show， with those quoted here， that his story was one of more than ordinary interest.
Nusku.
This deity was especially invoked by the Assyrian kings， but was in no wise exclusively Assyrian， as is shown by the fact that his name occurs in many Babylonian inscriptions.He was the great messenger of the gods， and is variously given as "the offspring of the abyss， the creation of êa，" and "the likeness of his father， the first-born of Bel." As Gibil， the fire-god， has likewise the same diverse parentage， it is regarded as likely that these two gods were identical.Nusku was the god whose command is supreme， the counsellor of the great gods， the protector of the Igigi (the gods of the heavens)， the great and powerful one， the glorious day， the burning one， the founder of cities， the renewer of sanctuaries， the provider of feasts for all the Igigi， without whom no feast took place in ê-kura.Like Nebo， he bore the glorious spectre， and it was said of him that he attacked mightily in battle.Without him the sun-god， the judge， could not give judgment.
All this points to the probability， that Nusku may not have been the fire-god， but the brother of the fire-god， i.e.either flame， or the light of fire.The sun-god， without light， could not see， and therefore could not give judgment： no feast could be prepared without fire and its flame.As the evidence of the presence of the shining orbs in the heavens--the light of their fires--he was the messenger of the gods， and was honoured accordingly.From this idea， too， he became their messenger in general， especially of Bel-Merodach， the younger Bel， whose requests he carried to the god êa in the Deep.In one inscription he is identified with Nirig or ênu-rê？tu， who is described above.
Merodach.
