A Neo-Assyrian hymn portrays Asshur, the supreme god of Assyria, as a firey glow in the heavens -evidently he is the sun that comes forth from the heavenly gates each morning- hurling down fire on Assyria's enemies, just like Yahweh.
"You [the Assyrian King] opened your mouth and cried:
Hear me, O Asshur ! I heard your cry. I issued forth as a firey glow from the gate of heaven, to hurl down fire and have it devour them...I drove them up the mountain and rained (hail) stones and fire of heaven upon them." Simo Parpola, Assyrian Prophecies, State Archives of Assyria, Vol. IX, Helsinki Univ. Press, 1997)
Below, a picture of the Assyrian god Asshur with fiery flames erupting from his body. He shoots an arrow at the enemy and possesses Eagle's (?) wings and tail feathers (For the below image cf. p. 45. Fig. 10. George E. Mendenhall. The Tenth Generation, The Origins of the Biblical Tradition. Baltimore. Johns Hopkins University Press. 1973.)
