NĀBŪ. – This is the Semitic name of the son of Marduk, god of Babylonia, and means the “announcer.” He was the planet Mercury and the god of writing, the arts, and crafts.
His principal sanctuary was in the city of Barsippu, not far from Babylon, with which the city of N. was connected by a processional road that the statue of the god traversed during the New Year festival. N. was greatly venerated in Assyria during the Neo-Assyrian period. His symbol was the clay tablet and the stylus, recalling that, as the scribal god, he served as secretary during the assemblies of the principal deities in the temple of Marduk at Babylon.
BIBL.: G. Furlani, La religione babilonese e assira, I, Bologna 1928, pp. 235–43.