Vedic influence in West Asia

The Assyrians worshiped their supreme God Assur. I have mentioned in my previous posts on Persia that the word “Assur” in Sanskrit means “the most powerful being”. It does not originally refer to malevolent beings but referred to the Supreme Personality. The God Assur of the Assyrians was depicted as an archer located inside the solar disk. We can immediately see a parallel between Lord Rama who is always depicted as an archer. Lord Rama belonged to the solar dynasty and is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The solar disk is also worshiped as the eye of God in the Vedic tradition. Thus the worship of the Assyrian god Assur has Vedic roots.

There is also a myth involving a God who is half human and half lion called Nadush-Namir. We can see that the root of this myth is in the Vedic Narasimha avatar.

Finally the translation of the Sumerian cylinders shows that there is a resemblance between the Vedic Agni and the God Enki. Enki is said to reside in Aapu. Aapu means water is the Sumerian language and water is called aap in Sanskrit. There are many Vedic hymns which mention that Agni resides inside water.  Enki can be proved to be a fiery deity rather than a watery deity from the fact that the Western Asian Gira (fire) and Nusku (lamp) are said to originate from Enki. The messenger between the Gods and humans was also Enki just like the Vedic messenger Agni.

The Sumerians trace their origin to the land of Dilmun in the East. They state that Dilmun is a treasure trove of natural resources especially ivory. The location and the description match with India.

References:

The Arian Witness by Rev. K.M. Banerjea

The origin of Pagan idolatry by George Stanley Faber