The god An and Early Occurrences

***** Re-posted from an earlier enenuru periodical *****





Thought I would write as I have one of those rare Mesopotamian god monographs in my hands today - that is, a book dedicated solely to the study of a particularly god and his appearences throughout cuneiform literature. Early examples include the Briem (1918) and Plessis (1921) studies on Inanna/Ishtar; Notscher's treatment of Ellil in Sumer and Akkad (1927); Sjoberg's dissertation on Nannar-Suen in the Sumerian Tradition (1960) ; and today there is Peter Espak's dissertation on Enki/Ea (2006) and Wang's dissertation on Enlil (2011). But at the moment, I am looking at Herman Wohlstein's 1976 work entitled "The Sky God, An-Anu".


A) Notes on (d)An: The book offers some fascinating insights into the heaven god, which are all the more desirable as An, despite his high position and importance to cosmology, occurs mainly in opaque and featureless allusions in the cuneiform literature. Wohlstein could potentially have done researchers of Mesopotamian religion quite a service here in collecting the diverse data he has; I have not been able to find a review of the work although I would certainly appreciate one... this work could be considered to be a bit on the dated side at this point (and that the author was 73 at the time the book was published may be a concern, if for example the author was particularly reliant on earlier scholarship). In any case, because I have never seen a really determined discussion of An, it may be worth it to take some notes. I am particularly interested in An in the early periods and in the south (as oppose to the Semitic Anu).


An in the South: Uruk and ED period -


While An is known and connected with the city of Uruk in literary texts from later periods, his position there in the Uruk period itself is less certain. Theology in Uruk periods is somewhat obscure to scholars due to the lack of literary texts, which of course make for the most explicitly stated theological notions - but (in somewhat dated fashion) the author relates that Falkenstein had noted the occurence of An's name in Uruk layer IV texts - (Archaische Texte aus Uruk, pg. 59-60.) Further there is of course the White Temple of Anu in Uruk which is datable to this period- evidence that the author uses to solidify the cult of An in archaic Uruk (pg. 166). According to Leick's more recent assessment however, modern scholarship has backed off any certain statements on which deity may have occupied the White temple: "The antiquity of An as a divine personality is subject to controversy.


His cult, like that of the goddess Inanna, is thought to have developed at Uruk. It cannot at present be decided which deity was worshipped there during the prehistoric Uruk IV period. It is also not certain whether the structure known as the ‘Anu-Ziggurat’ (Uruk V) should be associated with this god." (Leick 1998, pg 4). This uncertainty would leave one unable to entirely refute the hypothesis that the Sumerian An derives from the Semitic god Anu, as some have suggested. The cult of Anu was strong in Kish from quite early on.


During the Early Dynastic period, Wohlstein finds evidence for An in royal names - he interprets two king names from the first dynasty of Uruk in the following way: En-nun-na(d)-an-na (=Exalted Lord of the resting-place of Anu) and Melam-an-na "radiance of Anu." (Although the philologic interpretation of these names is again disputable). Of course the ED Fara godlist wasn't published until 1986 (Krebernik ZA 76, 161-203) so Wohlstein would not have had access, but An is listed at the top of that list. (The Abu Salabikh god list published a year earlier by Alberti may likewise have featured a An at the top, but the first lines are broken). The author is able, however, to note An's presence in an ED list of cities, a document we haven't paid much attention to at enenuru (perhaps due to the scarcity of English translations). See:





The author notes here: "special attention should be accorded to (d)An and Nin-unug, the city goddess of Uruk included in the same section." (pg. 27) Wohlstein makes mention of a vase inscription of Lugalzaggisi of Uruk, who was the last dominant Sumerian king prior to the rise of Sargon - "in the introduction formula the ruler designates himself as incantation- priest of An, and as one favorably viewed by An, the "king of the lands." Perhaps even more interesting however, is an inscription belonging to an obscure Urukian king who ruled just before Lugalzaggisi. Wohlstein describes the votive inscription of Lugalkisalsis of Uruk: "[the inscription] is dedicated to the fresh-water goddess Nammu..who is designated as consort of An". This is perhaps the primary attestation of this particular cosmological arrangement and the text reads in full:










Earlier speculation on the cosmology of the Sumerians put Nammu as the other of An. Kramer writing in 1944 examined an Old Babylonian god list (TCL 15,10 - search CDLI museum number AO 05376 - no transliteration); in that god list, he noted that again, Nammu is "treated as the wife of An" and yet "her epithet ama-tu-an-ki "the mother who gave birth to heave and earth" reveals her original character." Hence Kramer overturns the apparent partnership of An and Nammu because of the goddesses epithet, however the ED votive inscription Wohlstein points out is some 400 years older at least, and provides another attestation. It's possible that Nammu was the spouse of An in Sumerian times, and later comoslogical modifications made for the An and Ki pair or An and Uras pair we are familiar with from OB sources.


To summarize: despite some strong indicators from OB literature that place An in Uruk in the early period (such as the myth "Inanna and An" in which Inanna steals the E-anna stucture from An), some degree of caution is warranted in asserting that the was the actually state of Uruk theology in the archaic period - just on the grounds o lack of usable evidence: there are possible mentions of An in archaic economic or administrative texts, but no deity can be securely associated with the white temple. In the Early Dynastic period, An's presence is better attested with the god showing up in the Fara god list, and together with Nin-unug in the ED city list; several rulers from Uruk have An as a probably element in their personal names; further there are inscriptions from Uruk kings toward the end of the ED period which give An as "king of the lands" . Another inscription from the same period states that Nammu (and not Ki/Uras of later textual evidence) was the spouse of An, an arrangement also found in the OB godlist examined by Kramer in 1944. It's possible that this was an older cosmological notion.