German semiticist Klaus Beyer (1929-2014) published over 600 inscriptions from Mesopotamian towns and cities including Ashur, Dura-Europos, Hatra, Gaddala, Tikrit and Tur Abdin. Given that Christianity had begun to spread amongst the Assyrians throughout the Parthian era, the original Assyrian culture and religion persisted for some time, as proven by the inscriptions that include invocations to the gods Ashur, Nergal, Nanna, Ishtar and Shamash, as well as mentions of citizens having compound names that refer to Assyrian gods, such as ʾAssur-ḥēl (Ashur my strength), ʾAssur-emar (Ashur decreed/commanded), ʾAssur-ntan (Ashur gave [a son), and ʾAssur-šma' (Ashur has heard; cf. Esarhaddon).