of the local deities Itūr-Mēr and Tar’am-Mēr are both agreed to be theophoric names invoking him. Other sites where names invoking him are attested include Sippar, various locations in Assyria (in the Old Assyrian period) and the Diyala area, Puzrish-Dagan (Puzur-Wer from the Ur III period) and Larsa (Ubār-Wēr from the Old Babylonian period). A possible seventh century BCE attestation of a theophoric name invoking him as Ber, dnbr, usually interpreted as Dannu-Ber, "Ber is strong," is known from an Aramaic papyrus found in Saqqara in Egypt, However, the restoration is not certain, and according to Daniel Schwemer caution should be maintained. References to veneration of Wer other than theophoric names are absent from the corpus of Mari texts, though a place named Bāb-Mēr (KÁ-me-erki) is attested in a single source from the šakkanakku period. Furthermore, later texts from the kingdom of Khana attest the existence of a house of worship dedicated to him (akīt dme-er) in nearby Terqa. He was also apparently worshiped in Nerebtum, Shaduppum and Kakkulatum. A school tex from Kanesh, an Assyrian trading colony in Anatolia, mentions him alongside Ashur. In the Neo-Assyrian period, he was worshiped in Assur in the temple of Ištar-Aššurītu ("the Assyrian Ishtar"), and in Nineveh in the temple of Ashur. He is also mentioned on the Antakya stele of Adad-nirari III alongside Ashur, Adad, Sin of Harran and other deities. Additionally, in the same period Iluwēr, most likely the same deity, was worshiped by Arameans in Tell Afis in Syria, as attested on the Stele of Zakkur. Mythology In a section of an Old Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh preserved on the so-called "Yale tablet," corresponding to tablet III of the standard version, Enkidu mentions that the cedar mountain to which Gilgamesh wants to venture is under the control of the god Wer, described as "mighty" and "never sleeping," and as the one who appointed the monster Humbaba as its guardian. Adad is also associated with Wer in the same passage. In other versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Humbaba's master is Enlil. Even on the Yale tablet, it is mentioned that he bestowed seven terrors upon him. Andrew R. George assumes that while the mountain belongs to Wer, and he appointed Humbaba as its guardian and his second in command, the decision still had to be approved by Enlil. References Bibliography Mesopotamian gods Sky and weather gods Characters