An = Anum
Many other works of ancient scholarship were influenced by An = Anum, including a similar list of temples and various theological commentaries.
[9] It has been argued that despite cases of theological and lexical subgroups being possible to discern, no principle guided the list as a whole, and it was meant to compile theonyms without necessarily providing additional information and the nature of the individual deities or relationships between them.
[14] In the Old Babylonian period, god lists were often the product of strictly local scribal traditions, and distinct ones are known from Nippur, Isin, Uruk, Susa, Mari and possibly Ur.
[15] These local lists show a growing tendency to organize deities based on theological, rather than lexical, considerations.
[2] While it was common to arrange the names of gods in lists, no analogous scholarly practice is attested for demons, and the incantation series Utukku Lemnutu outright states they were not counted in the "census of Heaven and Earth", indicating the reasons behind this might have been theological.
[21] It is only known from one copy of unknown provenance (tablet AO 5376, presently in the Louvre) and from a small fragment from Nippur, but it is presumed it had wider circulation in the Old Babylonian period.
[25] However, according to Jeremiah Peterson documents from Old Babylonian Nippur indicate that both the An = Anum forerunner and other texts showing the beginning of the development of new lists fleshing out the relations between deities were also in circulation among the theologians of that city.
[42] The first modern publication of fragments of An = Anum occurred in 1866 and 1870 in volumes II and III of Henry Rawlinson's Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, though the transcription contained many errors, and are considered too outdated to use.
[43] Fragments continued to be published in the first half of the twentieth century,[5] but a transcription of the most complete copy, presently in the collection of the Yale University, has only been compiled by Richard L. Litke in 1958,[21] and remained unpublished for a long time.
[44] In 1976 permission to use Litke's translation was granted to Dietz Otto Edzard, who was the editor of Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie at the time.
[36] Preparations of a new edition partially relying on them started in 2018, culminating in publication of an annotated An = Anum by Ryan D. Winters, with George and Manfred Krebernik [de] as editors, in 2023.
[51] An = Anum is commonly understood as a list documenting Akkadian equivalents of Sumerian gods in a manner similar to the process of interpretatio graeca,[24] but according to Richard L. Litke this view is mistaken.
[63] Some of the copies preserve all the material on a single tablet,[62] with a brief summary marked by pairs of horizontal lines indicating the end of each originally separate section.
[78] Deities listed in her section include her husband Šulpae,[79] her sons Panigingarra and Ashgi,[80] the couple Lisin and Ninsikila,[81] and various courtiers.
[84] Nabu appears in it as Marduk's sukkal alongside his wife Tashmetum,[85] but he is not yet identified as his son, in contrast with late sources.
[94] Nin-MAR.KI is placed in the same section as well, but in contrast with earlier sources she is not identified as Nanshe's daughter, which might mean her placement reflected her link to cattle herding instead.
[102] The tablet ends with a group of various gods mostly associated with Adad or Shamash, such as Shullat and Hanish, though with some exceptions which were instead linked with Ea, Nisaba or Ishtar.
[108] A major lacuna in which they were presumably originally located is followed by a list of figures associated with the steppe and by a short section dedicated to Gazbaba.
[31] Other deities of Lagash listed there include Bau, Gatumdug,[115] as well as Igalim, Shulshaga and a number of children and courtiers of Ningirsu whose names are poorly preserved or lost.
[116] Juxtaposition of various deities originating in this area is not exclusive to An = Anum, as attested in a small fragment of an otherwise unknown god list found in Nippur.
[117] The next sub-section is centered on medicine goddesses (Ninisina, Ninkarrak, Nintinugga, Gula) and their families (including Pabilsag, Damu and Gunura).
[123] Tablet VI starts with Nergal, his titles, family and court (including Laṣ, Mammitum, Ishum and Ninmug).
[126] Included are various figures explained as ilu lemnu ("evil god"), such as Kingaludda,[127] the weaver goddess Uttu,[128] a group of deities possibly originating in Dilmun,[128] the Sebitti and other groups of seven (as well as the closely connected Elamite goddess Narundi),[129] Amurru, the divine representation of Amorite nomads, and his wife Ashratum,[130] the deified hero Gilgamesh[131] and his companion Enkidu,[65][c] and a number of names belonging to deities of uncertain identity, assumed to be of very minor importance, and a list of collective terms for deities.
[136] However, Ryan D. Winters notes that despite focusing on Marduk, it is so far known only from Assyrian copies, which is likely to reflect an early date of incorporation into the canon of An = Anum.
[137] According to Wilfred G. Lambert, it should be considered an appendix loosely connected with the rest of the composition, similar to the case of the final tablet of the standard edition of Epic of Gilgamesh.
[138] However, this proposal relies entirely on a single damaged colophon, and surviving examples of tablet VII indicate it was treated as the end of An = Anum.
[137] Kidin-Sin's copy does contain an appendix, but it consists of unrelated short lists according to the scribe himself included only to fill leftover space on the tablet.
[142] The entire pantheon of the city was restructured, with Ishtar, Nanaya and their court, encompassing deities such as Uṣur-amāssu, surpassed in prominence by Anu and Antu.
[143] While Anu was not completely absent from Uruk at any point in time between the third and first millennium BCE,[143] his position was that of a "figurehead" and "otiose deity", in contrast with An = Anum, where he is the foremost god.
[144] Today it is agreed that both the elevation of Anu and Antu and the introduction of many new deities, such as Amasagnudi, relied on the study of this god list conducted by priests.
