Cult relief of a mountain god

At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, Ashur developed into a trading metropolis whose merchants had established contacts in Anatolia, through whom important commodities such as tin, textiles and precious metals were exchanged. Ashur’s situation in hilly northern Mesopotamia and the importance of the country’s fertility can be seen on a relief from the forecourt of the Ashur Temple. The centre figure, characterised as a mountain deity by its skirt with scale-like symbols and flanked by two water goddesses, is tending two goats.