According to a royal hymn composed in his honor, he was born "in the mountains that nobody knows", suggesting he may have been born in exile, or perhaps a literary device, as it continues: "I was without understanding and I prayed not of your majesty". It relates that, when Ishtar appointed him to the kingship, he had restored her overthrown cult. Known from a single copy from the
library of Ashurbanipal, it includes a plea to the goddess to restore him to health from the sickness that afflicted him, citing his temple-restoration, and devotions, to persuade her. It addresses Ištar of Nineveh, and Ištar of
Arbil, as though they were separate deities. A second, fragmentary literary prayer thanks her for her favor. The
Synchronistic Kinglist gives his
Babylonian counterpart as
Kashshu-nadin-ahi (c. 1006–1004 BC), but probably only for stylistic purposes as there seems to have been no recorded contact between the kingdoms during this period.
Ashur A single short
brick-inscription comes from his palace in
Assur, which was located between the south-west front of the
ziggurat and the
Anu-
Adad temple. The "White Obelisk" is sometimes attributed to him by historians, but more usually to his later namesake,
Ashurnasirpal II, because its internal content (hunting, military campaigns, etc.) better matches what is known about his reign.
Succession He was succeeded by his son,
Shalmaneser II, who mentions him in one of his own inscriptions and later by another son, the long-reigning
Aššur-rabi II. ==See also==