Belit is the "mistress of the lower world."  She received the title Nin-khar-sag, "lady of the high or great mountain," that is to say, the mountain on which the gods were thought to dwell.  When in the days of Khammurabi Bel became Marduk, Belit did not at the same time become Marduk's consort.  But Belit did apparently come to be applied in its general sense of "mistress" to the consort of the chief god.  Thus Tiglathpileser I, speaks (c. 1140 B.C.) of Belit, "the lofty consort and beloved of Ashur"; and Nabopolassar, referring to the consort of Shamash at Sippar, speaks of "Belit of Sippar."  As a general title, "mistress," the term is also applied to Ishtar (q.v.), Ashurbanipal apparently referring to her as "Belit mati" or "the lady of the land."  This would involve in course of time the transference of the qualities of Belit, the consort of Bel, to other consorts, just as the qualities of Bel were transferred to Marduk.  From the names of the eight gates of Sargon's palace, it appears that Belit was a goddess of fertility. (An Encyclopedia of Religions, Canney, 1921)