| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Gyor |
Posted - 28 Mar 2018 : 22:13:39
Okay I'm been reading up on the Milan and real world history and have come to some realizations.
First the Untheric Pantheon is a mixture of Semetic and Summerian Gods. Assurian was the national deity of Assur and the Assyrian mpire, Ishtar Sumerian originally, Enlil of Sumerian origin as is Ki, Utu is Sumarisn, but was popular as gmfar away as Ebla. Ianna might have been Sumerian or Semitic, Mardok East or West Semitic not sure, but he was the national deity of Babylon, Ramman is just a Babyonian name for Baal/Hadad/Adad an Amorite deity (Semitic). Just some examples. This suggests that the Untherites came from Amorite (a West Semitic aka Canaanite people), Sumerian (isolate language), Akkadian stock (East Semitic, closely related to Eblaite and Mari peoples).
Mulhorand is most a mix of Upper and Lower Egyptian Gods with Kushite and Greek influences. Anhur might has have been borrowed from the Kushite Pantheon, or at least he married into it (he married a lion Goddess of Kushite, whose aspect seemed to be absorbed by Bast). The Greek influence is mostly names (Egypt has a greek minority for along time, so some getting absorbed into the Mulan no big deal).
Now I don't think Mulhorand and Unther had slavery until after their first and greatest empires which seem to have been both the freest and the most magical and technically advanced eras. Then a bunch of wizards rebelled and that lead to a religious buracracy in Mulhorand and a general clamp down on technology and magic in general.
Then the Orcgate Wars happened and a bunch of Gods died, especially Untheric. The Narfell and Rhaumuan empires rise.
The Second Empires of followed the fall of Narfell and Rhaumuan (misspelled). Not as technologically advanced, but an age of heroes, perhaps the Silver Age, a time of great Mulan heroes, before everything started turning to shit for the Mulan Empires. Babylonian Gods come into replace the dead Sumerian Gods during this period, perhaps Enlil called in reinforcements from Mesopatamia. By the end of the Second Untheric Empire Gilgeam kicks them out, except Ishtar and Ramman who are two popular to boot. Mulhorand has some new religion as well in the form of beast cults, one of which gets absorb by Bast which sends her roaming. Hypothesis, Felidae was originally a Cat Lord when she got absorbed by Bast, which caused the Beastlands to create a new Cat Lord because trapped on the material plane, Bast/Felidae couldn't sererve that function, which caused the fued between Sharess (Bast) and the current and previous Cat Lords. Bast feels she is the real Cat Lord and The current Cat Lord conciders her a Predador he ate the previous Cat Lord.
The colonies of Unther revolt successfully (this maybe why most of the Babylonian Gods got the boot by Gilgeam), and and the Red Wizards take That ending both Second Empires.
Unther doesn't get a third Empire until the Sundering, it just decays until the Untheric Pantheon dissolves. During the new Unther (and Tymanther) Gilgeam, Enlil return (Marduk in his Dragon form already had a small presence in Tymanther). Manna Sin returns as an Immortal, not a God, but likely can grant Undying Warlock Pacts at least.
Mulhorandi Gods return, in force, beginning possibly the Fourth Mulhorand Empire.
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| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Markustay |
Posted - 04 Apr 2018 : 20:41:11
When I was that age, 'The Bible' was the 'hot new bestseller' rack. 
Which was great, because I was getting kind of bored reading the Hammurabi Law Code. 
Now, on the topic: I stopped calling them 'Earth Gods' years ago, because in the sense of D&D and the multiverse, its a bit of falsity. In fact, at the time those myths were written/told, the understanding of the universe (and possibility of other worlds/alien species) was very vague, so if so many of these pantheons were involved in 'The Creation' (as nearly all of them say they were), then there really is only one group of Gods, and each world mixes them up and puts them in varying pantheons, which is all just from that world's perspective. In other words, we have to apply our knowledge of what the universe is really like to the myths, and expand them outward.
Demigods... and certain VERY lucky ones that get beyond that tier - are 'local phenomena', and not part of the larger, multiversal group ('Estelar', or 'archtypes').They are just mortals who have found a path to godhood. Thus, Hercules and Gilgamesh should remain Earth-specific (Yes, I know ALL about Gilgeam... just *UGH*). In FR we have tons of examples of those, and aside from Bane who was an overachiever, they remain 'Realms specific' gods.
Now, the Ancient Gods (who had many children who became gods on various worlds, and thus their 'clan' {pantheon} grew) would have had their own personalities and agenda, and so the mortal cultures that followed them would have 'evolved' along certain lines, so even when later on - when the First World was shattered and the multiverse was born - we see these similarities in certain cultures no matter how far physically apart they are.
So not only do we have to stop thinking of them as 'Earth Gods', but to some degree, we need to stop thinking of the creating cultures as also specifically 'from Earth'. Our ones with their own history, YES, those are Earth-specific. But that does not mean an extremely similar culture could not have arose elsewhere. on another world. Not precisely 'parallel' evolution - more like 'panspermic' evolution thanks to the gods. If Zeus and Co. are worshiped on a thousand worlds, and those mortals all see their gods walking around in togas, guess what? Nearly all of those cultures will start wearing togas. The same for everything else - they are picking things up from these beings; emulating 'their gods', which is all perfectly normal.
So instead of thinking of Earth as 'THE TREE' and everything branches off of it, you have to think of it more in D&D terms: Earth is merely one branch off of an infinitely vast and complex tree. For example, in the stuff I used to be working on in the old Kara-Tur thread over on the WotC boards, I had surmised there was an OA planet - The Red Earth, wherein the China-like proto-culture arose, and something happened to that Crystal Sphere, and the people from there had to flee their world to others, spreading their culture thusly. Kara-Tur was one such place, ancient China another. I had only allowed for a dozen in my writings, but if you started picking-apart D&D and other RPG settings, you'd probably find over a hundred... at least. Anyway, my idea there is that that culture wasn't native to Earth - it was imported from elsewhere, and thus, unlike the Mulan culture, can't be consider 'from Earth', since Earth got the same dose of it that Toril did. In another related thing I was working on, I had it where the Finnish Pantheon was actually native to Toril, and spread to Earth. That Kalevala was actually in the Northern Hordelands regions (the ancient Gur lands).
In that way, by looking at 'all things deific' in a more multiversal light, the Earth-like cultures in The Realms (and elsewhere) become less jarring. Perhaps each world had its own, single pantheon once, after the Dawn War. A few proto-Gods (Estelar) at the top, and then world-specific (ascended mortals) deities filling all the other places. Perhaps that was how it was meant to be. FR is like that - we have just our Faerūnian pantheon (because you can't really say there are other pantheons - not in the same way we do on Earth - because the Gods DO interact with each other - take Bast and Set, for example, and any of the demihuman pantheons). The demihuman (and other) pantheons are all PART of the greater Faerūnian pantheon (in regards to Realmspace). Somehow, Earth wound-up with a jumbled cluster of many pantheons, which probably wasn't supposed to happen (I blame it on the destruction of the Mana Poles). I wouldn't want to guess at which one is supposed to be the 'real one' (the one spawned on Earth), because that would be disingenuous to all the other earth cultures. Easier just to say that the original Earth pantheon got obliterated by the others, and parts of it may have been absorbed into them. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 04 Apr 2018 : 13:29:58
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Okay, not directly related to the thread topic, but somewhat related to the 'current' topic.
My youngest son came by for a couple of days a few nights ago (he is on vacation from school), and since none of his stuff is here anymore (he used to live me until last year), we decided to watch some Netflix in his brother's room (his brother who wasn't home at the time, but is 20 and has a 6' TV in his room, which is really the whole basement and more like an apt.). We couldn't find any anime we have both seen, were already in the middle of, or didn't care to watch, so we tried to find a movie, and we came across 'BFG', which I strangely never even heard of. It was EXCELLENT - probably the BEST movie I have ever seen about Giants (of course, its not like there are a lot of movies with giants, and none really featuring them). Its like how I pictured the giants of Harry Potter being like, except those movies totally ignored that whole subplot.
Its probably THE WORST named movie ever, but it stands for 'Big Friendly Giant', and although the focus is on the one the giant, there are plenty of others, and how they are presented will be how I 'do' my giants from now on (I had a very similar take when I ran Against the Giants in GH many years ago). The movie is a real gem - worth the watch just for the giant's speech mannerisms.
The plot started to fall apart about 3/4 of the way through for me, but as I said, its really the giant himself that makes the whole thing worth the watch. Also, if you have any sort of interest in 'dream magic', weirdly, this movie does it different and does it well (some very cool scenes with the giant 'catching dreams'). Its certainly no masterpiece of literature (the book it was based on), but it was well worth the 2hrs I invested and we all thoroughly enjoyed it (the older boy got cut from work and came home early, and managed to catch the second half with us).
EDIT:
And to steer this back around, I haven't seen Gods of Egypt either, but now I will make a point of watching it - thanks for the heads-up. 
On BFG... just to note, it was written like either WHEN I was a kid or prior to that (hmmm, decided to google, 1982... so yeah, I would have been to old and my gf would have been 3, so makes sense). So a lot of modern influence wouldn't be seen. I only know this because my girlfriend looked at my like I was nuts when I said I'd never heard of it (its like an equivalent to Dr. Seuss in her mind). |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 04 Apr 2018 : 05:16:50
Things I've said about this in other scrolls ...
quote:
Given that 1357DR equals 1987AD, and that the Imaskari imported Mulan slaves from our world around -4366DR, they would have come from our world circa 3736BC. The Mulan brought with them their Mulhorandi and Untheric gods which are (approximately based on) those worshipped within Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia. So the Mulan slaves of the Imaskari would have originated from the "Naqada" peoples of Predynastic Period Ancient Egypt and from the various peoples of very early "Uruk" Period (pre-Sumerian, pre-Babylonian) Ancient Mesopotamia. (Perhaps also from other peoples scattered nearby or between them.)
quote:
D&D is not meant to be an accurate historical simulation. It's a game. Built all around a pastiche of trope soups.
Pre-Greek Minoans and Proto-Greek Mycenaens may not have worshipped an Osiris, but the Mulhorandi certainly did.
And, as noted, their Realms pantheon is a mix of several ancient Earth pantheons which were (in the context of the era) basically "worlds" apart, separated by impassably vast distances and even spanning millennia.
And, as always, D&D mythology sort of picks and chooses a blurry "snapshot" of each pantheon which is far from "accurate" - gods come and gods go, gods change, gods ascend and gods decline, gods battle and betray and love and hate each other, an ongoing soap opera with ever-changing (and often conflicting) stories and actors and roles, they are "living" pantheons which serve religions and cultures/peoples worshipping them over periods of centuries (sometimes many centuries). Consider the Faerunian pantheon as an example - how many changes it's undergone across five D&D game editions. And compare any religion on our world now with its predecessor of five or ten or thirty centuries past. |
| sfdragon |
Posted - 04 Apr 2018 : 04:06:21
By Horus Markustay, you better enjoy it. ( I did) |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 04 Apr 2018 : 02:05:14
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
quote:
Originally posted by Gyor
Just finally watch Gods of Egypt yesterday on Netflix Canada and it left me wondering why it did so poorly at the box office, it was a great movie. Awesome. One of my favourites.
I could see using it as inspiration for Mulhorand and Unther, or at least parts of it.
Because the average American isn't drawn to Egyptian god lore..... Greek.. yes... Norse... yes... "Arthurian"... yes. Egyptian probably ranks next, and is probably gaining following due to the guy that wrote the Percy Jackson books (he did some Egyptian ones). Any other religions though (Celtic, Finnish, Slavic, Babylonian/Sumerian, African, American Indian, Mayan, Polynesian, Aztec, etc...) get shunted to the side.
I don't think it's as much that Americans aren't drawn to Egyptian lore as it is that Americans are exposed to various aspects of Greco-Roman mythology and Arthurian legend at a young age. I recall being fascinated by both by the time I was 10, and at that point, I was already eagerly reading whatever I could get my hands on, when it came to Greco-Roman mythology. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 03 Apr 2018 : 17:02:40
Okay, not directly related to the thread topic, but somewhat related to the 'current' topic.
My youngest son came by for a couple of days a few nights ago (he is on vacation from school), and since none of his stuff is here anymore (he used to live me until last year), we decided to watch some Netflix in his brother's room (his brother who wasn't home at the time, but is 20 and has a 6' TV in his room, which is really the whole basement and more like an apt.). We couldn't find any anime we have both seen, were already in the middle of, or didn't care to watch, so we tried to find a movie, and we came across 'BFG', which I strangely never even heard of. It was EXCELLENT - probably the BEST movie I have ever seen about Giants (of course, its not like there are a lot of movies with giants, and none really featuring them). Its like how I pictured the giants of Harry Potter being like, except those movies totally ignored that whole subplot.
Its probably THE WORST named movie ever, but it stands for 'Big Friendly Giant', and although the focus is on the one the giant, there are plenty of others, and how they are presented will be how I 'do' my giants from now on (I had a very similar take when I ran Against the Giants in GH many years ago). The movie is a real gem - worth the watch just for the giant's speech mannerisms.
The plot started to fall apart about 3/4 of the way through for me, but as I said, its really the giant himself that makes the whole thing worth the watch. Also, if you have any sort of interest in 'dream magic', weirdly, this movie does it different and does it well (some very cool scenes with the giant 'catching dreams'). Its certainly no masterpiece of literature (the book it was based on), but it was well worth the 2hrs I invested and we all thoroughly enjoyed it (the older boy got cut from work and came home early, and managed to catch the second half with us).
EDIT:
And to steer this back around, I haven't seen Gods of Egypt either, but now I will make a point of watching it - thanks for the heads-up. |
| Gyor |
Posted - 03 Apr 2018 : 12:34:39
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
quote:
Originally posted by Gyor
Just finally watch Gods of Egypt yesterday on Netflix Canada and it left me wondering why it did so poorly at the box office, it was a great movie. Awesome. One of my favourites.
I could see using it as inspiration for Mulhorand and Unther, or at least parts of it.
Because the average American isn't drawn to Egyptian god lore..... Greek.. yes... Norse... yes... "Arthurian"... yes. Egyptian probably ranks next, and is probably gaining following due to the guy that wrote the Percy Jackson books (he did some Egyptian ones). Any other religions though (Celtic, Finnish, Slavic, Babylonian/Sumerian, African, American Indian, Mayan, Polynesian, Aztec, etc...) get shunted to the side.
|
| sleyvas |
Posted - 02 Apr 2018 : 23:54:54
quote:
Originally posted by Gyor
Just finally watch Gods of Egypt yesterday on Netflix Canada and it left me wondering why it did so poorly at the box office, it was a great movie. Awesome. One of my favourites.
I could see using it as inspiration for Mulhorand and Unther, or at least parts of it.
Because the average American isn't drawn to Egyptian god lore..... Greek.. yes... Norse... yes... "Arthurian"... yes. Egyptian probably ranks next, and is probably gaining following due to the guy that wrote the Percy Jackson books (he did some Egyptian ones). Any other religions though (Celtic, Finnish, Slavic, Babylonian/Sumerian, African, American Indian, Mayan, Polynesian, Aztec, etc...) get shunted to the side. |
| Gyor |
Posted - 02 Apr 2018 : 17:33:27
Just finally watch Gods of Egypt yesterday on Netflix Canada and it left me wondering why it did so poorly at the box office, it was a great movie. Awesome. One of my favourites.
I could see using it as inspiration for Mulhorand and Unther, or at least parts of it. |
| Icelander |
Posted - 31 Mar 2018 : 01:57:12
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Now, since Moon Knight also gets his powers from an Egyptian deity (Konshu), I'm thinking the Mulan god's Chosen (or 'Incarnations') should all be like Superheroes. 
I play my Realms games using GURPS, which is a Generic and Universal game system and can be used for superhero games, historical games, realistic modern games, cinematic modern games and any other genre you can imagine.
Making medium-to-high level D&D style characters in GURPS is functionally equivalent to making superheroes. That's because powerful characters expressed in D&D terms are superheroes by any reasonable metric. |
| Baltas |
Posted - 31 Mar 2018 : 00:44:42
- sleyvas
Well, not exactly...Cap and Black Widow have their own issues, especially Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Due to being trained from birth as an assassin, and working as one for...less than moral employers, she has great guilt over it. The organization that raised and trained, also sterilized her, when she ended her training.
Natasha (Black Widow), really wanted and tried to redeem herself, and make up for her past, working for S.H.I.E.L.D., but then she discovered S.H.I.E.L.D. controlled by HYDRA (basically Nazis), an she still helded a horrific organization (HYDRA).
This all gave her a degree of lelf-loathing and great guilt, to the point she sympathizes with Bruce Banner, as she also considers herself a "monster". |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 30 Mar 2018 : 22:31:24
quote:
Originally posted by Gyor
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
And I just found out yesterday that Black Panther (I finally got to go and see it) gets his power from Bast too!
Now, since Moon Knight also gets his powers from an Egyptian deity (Konshu), I'm thinking the Mulan god's Chosen (or 'Incarnations') should all be like Superheroes.
More like a fusion of Doctor Strange and Thor.
You know what.... they were both doctors of medicine.... you know, when you look at the avengers... Thor/medical doctor... Iron Man/scientist... Hulk/scientist... Antman/scientist... all of them totally messed up... Captain America/lab experiment... Hawkeye/just a dude... Black Widow/hot chick.... all seem happy
What's the message? Um, don't get smart. |
| Gyor |
Posted - 30 Mar 2018 : 18:03:31
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
And I just found out yesterday that Black Panther (I finally got to go and see it) gets his power from Bast too!
Now, since Moon Knight also gets his powers from an Egyptian deity (Konshu), I'm thinking the Mulan god's Chosen (or 'Incarnations') should all be like Superheroes.
More like a fusion of Doctor Strange and Thor. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 29 Mar 2018 : 19:54:20
I just re-read the title of this thread and the picture of an 'Egyptian caveman' popped into my head. Ya know, a loincloth wearing demi-ape (Hominid), but 'walking like an Egyptian'. LOL
Picture a group of those - running like Egyptians - chasing after your PCs. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 29 Mar 2018 : 13:41:43
Hmmm, I want to go see that... I forgot it was out. Thanks Markustay. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 29 Mar 2018 : 08:02:20
And I just found out yesterday that Black Panther (I finally got to go and see it) gets his power from Bast too!
Now, since Moon Knight also gets his powers from an Egyptian deity (Konshu), I'm thinking the Mulan god's Chosen (or 'Incarnations') should all be like Superheroes. |
| Baltas |
Posted - 29 Mar 2018 : 04:15:49
Well yes, and to be clear, there also had been an overlap between the Canaanite, and Egyptian pantheon - Reshef was a fairly popular Egyptian deity, as was Qetesh (Asherah), and Anat and Astarte were wives of Set, due to Set being equated with Ba'al.
There are also theories, that Sumerians had an influence on the Ancient Egyptians, that gone back and forth in how seriously they are taken, which I mentioned above.
It was for example a plot point in the Vampire Chronicles books, were were the Queen of Egypt (Kemet), Akasha was Sumerian, as was persumably her husband Enkil (seeing his name).
But returning to the Realms, the Mulan also did seemingly influence the Raurin and Durpar, before going West - there is an "Assur" port city in Durpar, as well as a Carthag, which is now known as Phoenix (ad obvious refernce to Carthage and Phoenicia), Durpari when described first, worshipped Anu, and it might be connected to their veneration of Adama, and Bakar, (originally describeda survivor state of the Imaskar Empire ) in the Raurin region, worshiped the Mulhorandi pantheon, and had Pharaohs.
There are also clues part of the proto-Untheric population never gone to Unther, but moved south, to Zakhara.
The language of Zakhara, Midani, is stated to derive from Untheric, and according to Thomas M. Costa "Speaking in Tongues" article, the Midani languages branched off from the other Untheric languages by mixing with the Jannti languages of genies.
An aspect of Ereshkigal, might have moved to Zakhara, or at least Sahu, seeing the Isle of Necromancers, Sahu, has the ruins of a city named "Ereshkigal". As well having a city named "Uruk". The Lost Kingdoms of Nog and Kagar, might also be connected to the Worship of Ereshkigal...
But what might interest you, although you migght know it, is the originall backstory of the Untheric and Mulhorand pantheons - they were originally described as Imaskari Artificiers, who stole godhood, as descibed in first "Old Kingdom"'s sourcebook.
quote:
Toward the end of the previous age,
tribes of humans were pushed out of
the Great Kingdoms of the southeast,
which were covered in desert. Legends
speak of a great war in which powerful
humans fought against the gods to
wrest away their power. The humans
won and became god-kings, but the war
destroyed their kingdoms. These godkings,
Re and Enlil, led the shattered
remnants of their peoples into Mulhorand
and Unther. The two god-kings
and their spouses became the leaders of
the royal houses of these two nations.
This is also why Bakar - an Imaskari survivor state - was originally described as worshipping the Mulhorandi pantheon...
[EDIIT]
Also, one could use my first comment, explaining the origins of Assur, to have Assuran/Hoar as an aspect of Enlil or Marduk, that split from either of them - like Inanna and Ishtar.
This could connect with how suggested the Sublime Potentate Anwir Dupretiskava, could be the son of Assuran, which would be interesting if Assuran was an aspect split from Marduk (and we would go with the canon Marduk is the same as Bahamut, or at least that Marduk has a draconic aspect).
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| Gyor |
Posted - 29 Mar 2018 : 03:11:19
This stuff does get confusing. So many people's interacting, Akkadians, Sumerians, Amonites, Kassites, Chaldeans, Arameans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Sulteans, Persians, Medes, Eblaites, Canaanites, Israelites, and more ended up subjects rulers and/or subjets of Mesopetamian empires like various Assyrian, Gutian, Babylonian, Sumerian, Akkadian, Mari, Ebla (Ebla was a blend of Mesopatimian and Canaanite culture with some unique Ebla Gods).
It's very multicultural, although I believe they all got assimiliated into Akkadian culture, adding their own elements of course. It's seems almost simplistic to say Sumerian Pantheon, Babylonian Pantheon, Assyrian Pantheon, Eblaite Pantheon, Hittite Pantheon, Canaanite Pantheon, when Pantheons seem to merge and part and share and borrow from each other all the time depending on the politics of the time.
Which is what is really cool about how the Faerun Pantheon came about, it was the merging of the surviving deities from a bunch of different Pantheons.
The Jhaamdathian, Netherese, Talfic, and Calimshan, and Rogue parts of the Untheric caming together, with a few mortals turned Gods, caused by the interactions of various peoples that had been isolated.
The Nar/Yuirwood Pantheon got absorbed by the Elvish Seldarine Pantheon, Ishtar and Ramman sort of got absorbed by the Mulhorand Pantheon. Bast ended in up in the Elven Pantheon, Mulhorand Pantheon, and Faerun Pantheon. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 28 Mar 2018 : 23:26:31
just some further slight notes. Felidae the cat goddess, at least in theory, is the same Felidae who was a goddess worshipped by Rakasta in Mystara, but was also the elven goddess Calitha Starbrow (who is of all things an water goddess... oceans, lakes, and rivers). However, her being an elven goddess makes me think she could also be a Yuir deity (and possibly a sea elven deity at one point to the inner sea elves). I wish I could tell you more about that goddess, but I haven't found much, but several web sources confirm her existence, and I even found the reference to the name Felidae in canon documents for Mystara related to Rakasta just because I was curious.
From here http://pandius.com/Codex2e.pdf
Felidae (an elven Immortal adopted by the Bellaynish rakasta) has over time has assumed many of the traits of the two ancestor Immortals of the rakasta, Ka and Ninfangle, and has almost completely replaced their cults. Indeed, she is patroness of travel, oceans, fertility and good luck and she is preferred to the other two Immortals, as her cult is more about order and the maintaining the balance than those of two the ancient Immortals.
What she was known for: Tortles, oceans, lakes and rivers, travel, fertility, good luck
So, her absorbing Felidae may have triggered the "wanderlust" in Bast (for Felidae was a deity of travel) |
| Baltas |
Posted - 28 Mar 2018 : 22:39:04
Well, this is a quite interesting topic, especially Assur and Assuran.
Assur is believed by most to be a construct, a deification of the city-state of Assur (from which the Empire of Assyria first expanded). Assur though, was given near imidatelly elements of Enlil, to the point he was pretty much Enlil's north/Assyrian incarnation. To the point Assur's spouse, the goddess Mullissu, was aparently just the Assyrian version of Ninlil, Enlil's wife.
This also may reflect Assuran's portfolio in Forgotten Realms, ie poetic justice and retribution (connected to Law), and earlier, weather. Or at least neatly fits.
Assur did latter on absorb, and got identified with Anshar, to the point his name was written as Anshar in cuneiform, but that was a later development, to establish Assur as a more primordial entity. (Especially that in some versions/translations of Enuma Elish, Anshar was directly Tiamat and Apsu' son, rather than the son of Lahamu and Lahmu, just he and Kishar were the second born pair of siblings).
Assuran also much more resembles the Enlil of myth, rather than the Neutral Good Deities and Demigods incarnation, as the real life Enlil, was a vengeful deity, who could be described as Lawful Neutral (and even was characterized so in the Dragon magazine during the 3.5 era).
But another less accepted theory connects Assur as rather form of the Sumerian deity Asaru/Asar/Asari/Asarlugi - a fairly important god absorbed faily early on by Marduk, most notably making Marduk the son of Enki (that was originally an attribute of Asar/Asarlugi). That Asar is a fairly visible component of Marduk as we know the God of Babylon, is visible that multiple of Marduk's 50 names, are names and titles of Asar/Asarlugi (Asaruludu, Asaru, Asarualim, Asarualimnunna, and possibly Asharru.)
Another notable thing with Asar/Asaru though, is that his name is possibly ideticall to the proper pronouncuation of Osiris' name (Asar, Asari or Aser - Osiris is the Hellenized version). Some believe the cult of Asaru, ultimatarlly inspired the cult of Osiris (Asar). Asaru in Syria in turn, got elevated to the position of the chief god, and absorb traits of Enlil.
This extends to other gods, as Isis' name, as it was Iset, or Aset in Ancient Egyptian (Isis again, is the Hellenized version), quite similar to the semitic names Ishtar, Astarte and Asherah, especially that Ashersh name in Hittite for example, was "Aserdu(s)" or "Asertu(s)".
Inanna though, while named Ishtar by the Semitic peoples, was either a Sumerian, or pre-Sumerian, pre-Semitic Mesopotamian deity. This is reflected in the Hurrian deity Hanahanna, who might have developed from the same prehistoric goddess.
Anat, was another West Semitic deity related to Inanna, and might be another aspect on her in the West semitic pantheon, or derive from the same prehistoric goddess as Hannahanna and Inanna.
Anat was also tied to the Sumerian goddess Antu(m), but Antum herself was also identified with Asherah.
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