After the end of the Akkadian Empire, he continued to be worshiped in various cities in Mesopotamia, for example Mari, and in the Old Babylonian period he became the tutelary deity of the rulers of the Kingdom of Khana.
[11] One of his successors, Naram-Sin, referred to Ilaba as illat-śu, literally "his clan," perhaps to be understood metaphorically as "protector" or "family deity," though he called Enlil his personal god.
"[17] The mention of Dagan is typical for Sargonic inscriptions dealing with western conquests, as this god was believed to be responsible for bestowing kingship in the Upper Euphrates area, as also attested in later texts from Mari.
[20][21] A text which is either a copy of an inscription of Naram-Sin or a later literary composition describing a rebellion against this king lists Ishtar, Ilaba, Shullat and Hanish, Shamash, and Umshu as the deities he reports the defeat of the rebels to.
[24] Andrew R. George argues that Ilaba shared it with Annunitum,[6] but according to Paul-Alain Beaulieu, while the same year name mentions both of these deities, it commemorates the building of two separate temples.
[8] Two texts from Susa mention offerings made to Ilaba and the deity dšu-nir, interpreted as a deified standard by Piotr Steinkeller[27] and Manfred Krebernik,[8] but as Bēlat-Šuhnir by Ran Zadok.
[27] Ilaba is mentioned alongside Ishtar, Ninhursag and Ashgi in a letter of Adab[5] sent by Ishkun-Dagan, who might have been an official residing in the Lagash area during the reign of Shar-Kali-Sharri, to a certain Puzur-Ishtar.
[5] Benjamin Foster notes that the style of this text is "unusual" and "flowery," and that it uses "language derived from magical formulae," which according to him might indicate its original intent was humorous, as its topic is a simple request to arrive quickly.
[32] A man bearing theophoric name invoking Ilaba, Ipqu-Ilaba, was the father of a certain Zikir-ilīšu, a servant of Nur-Adad of Larsa, and is known from an inscribed seal of his son.
[41] Due to textual corruption, copies from Emar and Ugarit treat Ilaba and the deity DINGIR.A.BA4.BA4 who follows him as goddesses and explain them as the Mesopotamian counterparts of Hurrian Hutena and Hutellura.
[42] A fictitious letter attributed to Sargon in ancient Mesopotamian scholarship in which he summons his allies for a campaign against the city of Purushanda, located in Anatolia, implores them to respond to the call of Shamash, Ilaba, Zababa and Hanish, who urge them to partake.
[43] Another literary text, which deals with Naram-Sin's campaign against the city of Apishal, whose location is unknown,[44] refers to Ilaba and Ishtar as the king's friends[45] and mentions him and Zababa as the gods who accompany him during battles.
[29] A late Assyrian version of the so-called Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin might mention Ilaba after Ishtar and before Zababa, Annunitum, the pair Shullat and Hanish and Shamash among the deities who were the target of the eponymous king's oracular inquiry before a battle.