They were both cardinal concepts (used for mapping and understanding geographical features in relation to each other) as well as characters with personality, who could serve as antagonistic forces or helpful assistants in myths.
[1] While older theories posited that the ancient Mesopotamians had a concept of cardinality similar to modern day with a North, East, South, and West, it was more likely that their directions were framed around these four "principle winds".
[5] This wind, in one ritual text, is referred to as a friend of the king Naram-Sin,[3] and is also speculated to be associated with Enlil.
"[4] This wind may correlate to a modern-day counterpart, the Kaus which blows around the South and East and is associated with the rain and thunderstorms of the wet season.
[7] The text also describes him summoning and unleashing seven evil winds similar to those wielded by Ninurta in the Anzu Epic.
[7][8] The South Wind appears in the myth of Adapa as an antagonistic force, preventing the sage from fishing in the sea and sinking his boat.
[11] In some versions of Gilgamesh, the winds are guides to the hero and his friend Enkidu, helping them navigate the cedar forest on the orders of Utu.
[13] Franz Wiggermann claims that due to iconographic links (a shared crouching posture), Pazuzu may have been derived specifically from the masculine West Wind.
[2] These winds have some iconographic links to their Mesopotamian counterparts (both groups processing wings) but they are described in the Coffin Texts and other rituals as having more chimera-like bodies with other animal parts.