Introduction
Anu (Sumerian An) is the supreme sky god and nominal head of the Mesopotamian pantheon, son of Anshar and Kishar, though in practice much day-to-day authority over the world was delegated to his son Enlil.
Family
- Father: Anshar
- Mother: Kishar
- Children: Enlil, Enki (Ea), Ereshkigal
A Distant Sovereign
Anu's supremacy was largely formal and cosmic rather than actively narrative: he presided at the summit of the divine hierarchy and granted or withheld the Tablet of Destinies and other symbols of authority (as when Ereshkigal or Marduk's rivals sought his sanction), but relatively few myths center on Anu's own direct action compared to his more actively engaged descendants Enlil, Ea, and Marduk. His daughter (in various traditions) or close associate Inanna/Ishtar drew heavily on his authority in her own claims to power.
Mesopotamian religion spans Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian sources composed and recopied across nearly three thousand years, so names, genealogies, and even a deity's role often shift between traditions (Sumerian An/Enki/Inanna alongside their Akkadian/Babylonian forms Anu/Ea/Ishtar); the account above follows the most widely attested version, usually as consolidated in the Babylonian Enuma Elish or the standard Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh.