ANU. - Babylonian deity who personifies the sky, as his name also indicates (Sumerian An "sky"). In any case his domain is the sky, and the highest part of the sky is his dwelling, where A. sits upon a throne. As supreme prince of the sky, A. was not only the father and king of the gods, but the god par excellence. A rather abstract, invisible deity, which explains why his cult was less popular than many others. Only in passing, in certain passages of mythological literature, is there any mention of his creative activity.

Excavations have so far brought to light no representations or statues of this god; only his symbol, the throne surmounted by the tiara, which he shares with the other two deities, is often represented on kudurru (boundary stones).

As an indication of his power he bears the wooden weapon eri (a special wood) called "the sublime weapon of A." His sacred number is 60, the highest in the sexagesimal system.

The oldest and most famous place of worship of this deity is the city of Uruk (Erech), where he dwells in the temple Eanna ("house of the sky"); he also had temples in Aššur (ca. 1140).

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: G. Furlani, La religione babilonese-assira, I. Bologna 1928, pp. 109-16; E. Dhorme, Les religions de Babylonie et d'Assyrie (Coll. Mana, I), Paris 1945, pp. 22-26.

@incollection{ec1_anu, author = {Boson, Giustino}, title = {Anu}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {I}, pages = {1586--1587}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1948}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/anu} }

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