About this belief system
Assyrian religion was adapted from Babylonian and Akkadian culture during the first two centuries BCE. The religion was practiced from roughly 2000-500 BCE in modern-day Iraq and its chief deity was Aššur.
Parent belief system
Mesopotamian Culture · PolytheisticHeads up. Assyrian Religion belongs to a parent belief system on the basis of shared myths and deities.Mesopotamian religion broadly included cultures in the ancient near east: Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, Assyria, and others. These cultures shared highly diffused customs, deities, and myths from ca. 3000 BCE - 400 CE. Many deities were diffused from one culture into another, with the result that religious beliefs were consistent and coherent. Around 400 CE, Christianity and other Abrahamic religions became more widely practiced. Mesopotamian cultures also gave rise to many chief features observed in the...
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Top myths
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| Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta I | |
| Prestige myth | |
| Unknown author | |
| Read myth | |
Top deities
Background
The Assyrian capital of Aššur was named after its chief deity.
"Aššur was the god of the Assyrian nation.
Originally he may have been the local deity of
the city of the same name, or rather — since it is 26
unusual in Mesopotamia for the god and city
to bear the same name (see loc al gods) — a
personification of the city itself. (Oaths were
sworn by the name of the city as if it were itself a
god). As, therefore, the extent and power of
Assyria spread, Aššur became the supreme god
of the emergent state and empire. Details of the
origins and development of the god, however,
are lacking." [1]
This deity was thus worshipped in present-day northern Iraq.
Assyrian myths: A-Z
- Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta I Prestige myth
Nuthsell
Tukulti-Ninurta I, the Assyrian leader, describes his military campaigns against the Babylonians. The poetic narrative embellishes the might and power of Tukulti-Ninurta I and his army, resulting in an Assyrian victory. A statue of the chief Babylonian deity, Marduk, was stolen and taken to the Assyrian capital.
Assyrian deities: A-Z
- Aššur Assyrian · 1 myth
Aššur (Sumerian: 𒀭𒊹) was the chief deity of Assyrian cultural traditions, wherein the capital was named after him. He is typically symbolized by a winged sun disc.
- Nisroch Assyrian
Nisroch is an Assyrian demon depicted as an eagle-headed figure. This deity is attested in biblical accounts like the Book of Kings.
- Nusku Assyrian
Nusku was a minister to Enlil and associated with fire and light. He was oftentimes depicted with as a lamp.
Cite this page
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "Assyrian." OMNIKA – World Mythology Index, OMNIKA Foundation, 24 Apr. 2020, omnika.org/stable/544. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
OMNIKA (2020, April 24). Assyrian. Retrieved from https://omnika.org/stable/544
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "Assyrian." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created April 24, 2020. Accessed January 20, 2025. https://omnika.org/stable/544.
