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Anu (Akkadian: 𒀭𒀭ANU, from 𒀭 an "Sky", "Heaven") or Anum, originally An (Sumerian: 𒀭An),[10] was the divine personification of the sky, king of the gods, and ancestor of many of the deities in ancient Mesopotamian religion. He was regarded as a source of both divine and human kingship, and opens the enumerations of deities in many Mesopotamian texts. At the same time, his role was largely passive, and he was not commonly worshipped. It is sometimes proposed that the Eanna temple located in Uruk originally belonged to him, rather than Inanna, but while he is well attested as one of its divine inhabitants, there is no evidence that the main deity of the temple ever changed, and Inanna was already associated with it in the earliest sources. After it declined, a new theological system developed in the same city under Seleucid rule, resulting in Anu being redefined as an active deity. As a result he was actively worshipped by inhabitants of the city in the final centuries of the history of ancient Mesopotamia.
Multiple traditions regarding the identity of Anu's spouse existed, though three of them—Ki, Urash, and Antu—were at various points in time equated with each other, and all three represented earth, similar to how he represented heaven. In a fourth tradition, more sparsely attested, his wife was the goddess Nammu instead. In addition to listing his spouses and children, god lists also often enumerated his various ancestors, such as Anshar or Alala. A variant of one such family tree formed the basis of the Enūma Eliš.
Anu briefly appears in the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh, in which his daughter Ishtar (the Akkadian counterpart of Inanna) persuades him to give her the Bull of Heaven so that she may send it to attack Gilgamesh. The incident results in the death of the Bull of Heaven and a leg being thrown at Ishtar's head. In another myth, Anu summons the mortal hero Adapa before him for breaking the wing of the south wind. Anu orders for Adapa to be given the food and water of immortality, which Adapa refuses, having been warned beforehand by Enki that Anu will offer him the food and water of death. In the Hurrian myths about Kumarbi, known chiefly from their Hittite translations, Anu is a former ruler of the gods, who was overthrown by Kumarbi, who bit off his genitals and gave birth to the weather god Teshub. It is possible that this narrative was later the inspiration for the castration of Ouranos in Hesiod's Theogony. It has also been proposed that in the Hellenistic period Anu might have been identified with Zeus, though this remains uncertain.
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university and member of the Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia...
Anu Emmanuel (pronounced [anu ɪˈmænjəwəl] ; born 28 March 1997) is an American actress of Indian descent who primarily works in Telugu films along with...
Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is an Indian National Award...
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Anu Prabhakar, also known by her married name Anu Prabhakar Mukherjee, is an Indian actress, who predominantly appears in Kannada films and a few Tamil...
Anu Hasan (born Anuradha Chandrahasan) is an Indian actress and TV anchor. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed Indira (1995) and has since...
Christine Anu (born 15 March 1970) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She gained popularity with the cover song release of the Warumpi Band's...
actress and former model who appeared in Telugu, Odia and Kannada films. Anu Mehta made her debut with the Telugu movie Arya, by which she gained popularity...
Anu Joseph is an Indian actress in the Malayalam television industry. She made her acting debut in 2003, through the Malayalam Movie, Paadam Onnu: Oru...
Anu Saagim (also Anu Nataly Saagim-Ratia; born 9 April 1962) is an Estonian socialite, editor, and journalist. Anu Saagim was born in Tallinn. In 1980...
ANU Press (or Australian National University Press; originally ANU E Press) is a new university press (NUP) that publishes open-access books, textbooks...
Anu Mohan (born 24 August 1990) is an Indian actor who works mainly in supporting roles in Malayalam films. He made his debut in the 2011 film, Orkut...
Anu Choudhury is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Odia, Telugu, Chhattisgarhi, Bengali and Hindi films. She has starred in more than 65 films...
Anu Vardhan is an Indian costume designer and entrepreneur. A graduate of visual communications from Loyola College, Chennai is a recipient of State Award...
Anu Kristiina Nieminen (born 16 December 1977; née Weckström) is a Finnish badminton player. Born in Helsinki, Nieminen joined the national team in 1994...
Druhyu dynasty (Sanskrit: द्रुह्युवंश, romanized: Druhyuvaṃśa) and the Anu dynasty (Sanskrit: अनुवंश, romanized: Anuvaṃśa) are the names of three legendary...
Anu Garg (born April 5, 1967) is an American author and speaker. He is also the founder of Wordsmith.org, an online community comprising word lovers from...
television personality Dhivyadharshini (DD). It was previously hosted by Anu Haasan, from 2006 to 2013. The show aired on Star Vijay from 29 September...
Anu Ane Nenu (transl. I, Anu) is an Indian Telugu language soap opera premiered on 6 March 2023 airing on GeminiTV and it is available for worldwide streaming...
Queen Anu or Lady Anu (Mongolian: Ану хатан ᠠᠨᠤ ᠬᠠᠲᠤᠨ; also known as Ana Dara; died 1696) was a queen consort who led warriors into battle at the founding...
Anu Afolayan is a Nigerian composer and sound editor who worked on the films Aníkúlápó, Citation and Mokalik. Afolayan made his debut as a composer in...
Eeva Anneli ("Anu") Pentikäinen (née Pasi; born 3 August 1942), better known professionally as Anu Pentik, is a Finnish designer and ceramicist. Pentik's...
Anu Menon is an Indian film director and screenwriter. She has directed movies such as London, Paris, New York (2012), Waiting (2016) and worked with...
Anu Krishna is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil films. She has starred in Kaththi (2014) and Ilami (2016). Anu Krishna made her acting debut...