He was worshipped also at Tarbisa, near Nineveh, but in Tiggaba he was said to "live," and his shrine there was one of great celebrity.

Hence "the men of Cuth," when transported to Samaria by the Assyrians, naturally enough "made Nergal their god," carrying his worship with them into their new country.
[Illustration: PLATE 20] It is probable that Nergal's symbol was the Man Lion.

[PLATE XX.] Nir is sometimes used in the inscriptions in the meaning of "lion;" and the Semitic name for the god himself is "Aria"-- the ordinary term for the king of beasts both in Hebrew and in Syriac.

Perhaps we have here the true derivation of the Greek name for the god of war, _Ares,_ which has long puzzled classical scholars.

The lion would symbolize both the fighting and the hunting propensities of the god, for he not only engages in combats upon occasions, but often chases his prey and runs it down like a hunter.