There are many difficulties associated with the word Asur. The name Asur is the designation in cuneiform literature for the country, the city, and the deity. There are a number of problems connected with the character, form, and etymology of the name of the chief god of the Assyrian pantheon that still anticipate a satisfactory solution. The oldest occurrence of Asur is in reference to the district. At this same period and until the days of Samsi-Adad II, the god appears to have been designated as A-usar. A-usar, the oldest name of the city and then extended to the district of which A-usar was the capital, furnished the name for the god of the place, who when he is first designated as A-usar is so by virtue of being the god of A-usar. The name A-usar, so far as its meaning can be determined, is more applicable to a place than to a deity. After extensive examination, it is rather clear that the name Asur originated from the city.