He frequently appears in enumerations of deities associated with the underworld who formed the entourage of Nergal, and in some cases could be equated with him.

A possible feminine counterpart, NIN-ṣar-BE, is known from neo-Assyrian sources, and is sometimes identified with earlier Ištar-ṣarbatum from Ebla in modern scholarship.

The name Bēl-ṣarbi means "lord of the poplar" (the tree meant is assumed to be Populus euphratica) in Akkadian.

[2] According to an esoteric text assigning various objects and substances to deities, Lugal-asal corresponded to a muššaru stone.

[4] A temple dedicated to Šar-ṣarbati, E-durgina (Sumerian: "house, established abode") existed in it.

[11] A relief from Kalhu dated to this period shows Assyrian soldiers carrying away the figure of a god holding an unidentified object.

[14] The other gods mentioned are Ashur, Marduk, Nabu, Anu rabu (Ištaran) and Shamash.

[6] An inscription of Samsu-iluna which mentions various forts he built for specific deities lists Iabušum in association with Bēl-ṣarbi.

[6] She has been characterized as a goddess of the middle Euphrates area, but it is unclear if her cult center was the northern settlement Ṣarbat.