ASSUR (country), the land of Assyria, not to be confused with the city of Ashur (modern Shergat) from which it took its name. The country is situated on the Tigris, at the southern ex tremity of Assyria proper, which was bounded on the north by the foothills of Kurdistan, and lay between the Tigris and its tributary the lesser Zab (Zab al Asfal) in a fertile triangle of land. The early history of Assyria probably consisted in the gradual occupa tion of this fertile region, from the city of Assur, which retained its position as a holy city long of ter the political power had been transferred to the more conveniently placed Nineveh. (See MESO POTAMIA : Ancient Geography.)