ancestors of the Assyrians, Akkadians and Babylonians settled in Assur and throughout Mesopotamia, either displacing or assimilating earlier populations. Founded in a both holy and strategic location, the city itself was gradually deified during the Early Assyrian period and eventually became personified as the god Ashur, firmly established as the Assyrian national deity by the time of Puzur-Ashur I in the late 21st century BC.

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