revitalized, with its great temple dedicated to the lunar god Sîn being rebuilt under Nabonidus (556–539 BC). Individuals with Assyrian names are attested at multiple sites in Babylonia during the Neo-Babylonian Empire, including Babylon, Nippur, Uruk, Sippar, Dilbat and Borsippa. The Assyrians in Uruk apparently continued to exist as a community until the reign of the Achaemenid king Cambyses II (530–522 BC) and were closely linked to a local cult dedicated to Ashur. Individuals with clearly Assyrian names are also known from the rule of the Achaemenid Empire, sometimes in high levels of government. A prominent example is Pan-Ashur-lumur, who served as the secretary of Cambyses II. The temple dedicated to Ashur in Assur was rebuilt by local Assyrians in the reign of Cyrus the Great. Under the Seleucid and Parthian empires, efforts were made to revitalize Assyria and the ancient great cities began to be resettled, with the predominant portion of the population remaining native Assyrian. The original Assyrian capital of Assur is in particular known to have flourished under Parthian rule. Continuity from ancient Assyria is clear in Assur during this period, with personal names of the city's denizens greatly reflecting names used in the Neo-Assyrian Empire, such as Qib-Assor ("command of Ashur"), Assor-tares ("Ashur judges") and even Assor-heden ("Ashur has given a brother", a late version of the name Aššur-aḫu-iddina, i.e. Esarhaddon). The Assyrians at Assur continued to follow the traditional ancient Mesopotamian religion, worshipping Ashur (at this time known as Assor) and other gods. Assur may even have been the capital of its own semi-autonomous vassal state, either under the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Hatra, or under direct Parthian suzerainty. Though this golden age of Assur came to an end with the conquest, sack and destruction of the city by the Sasanian Empire AD 240, the inscriptions, temples, continued celebration of festivals and the wealth of theophoric elements (divine names) in personal names of the Parthian period illustrate a strong continuity of traditions, and that the most important deities of old Assyria were still worshipped at Assur more than 800 years after the Assyrian Empire had been destroyed. Identity in ancient Assyria Development and distinctions Ethnicity and culture are largely based in self-perception and self-designation. In ancient Assyria, a distinct Assyrian identity appears to have formed already in the Old Assyrian period ( 2025–1364 BC), when distinctly Assyrian burial practices, foods and dress codes are