CHAPTER 15
— ANU WAS THE Akkadian god of heaven, later also worshiped by the Assyrians and Babylonians, being the Semitic counterpart of the god Am of Sumerian mythology.
Anu was the — lord of the constellations, king of spirits and demons.
— Did he represent God or the devil? — Pietro interrupted.
The teacher smiled and continued:
— Of both... in Sumerian mythology there is no hierarchy between the gods, at one time, depending on the needs of the people, one was chosen, at another time, another...
Pietro nodded and the professor continued:
— Anu dwelt in the highest celestial regions. He was also regarded as a judge of men and gods, having created the stars of the sky to serve him as his soldiers, in charge of chasing and punishing criminals. Anu was the father of the Anunnaki.
Just as he did in the classroom, he looked at the two and realized that they were following his line of teaching:
— Iconographically, Anu is sometimes depicted as a jackal. However, its most frequent distinguishing feature is the divine tiara, adorned with two pairs of horns, the importance of the Akkadian gods was measured by the number of pairs of horns that adorned their tiaras.
— The most important of all the gods was Anu.
The teacher confirmed.
— He was the father of the gods of Sumeria, the Nephilim-Anunnaki, he is the ruler of Nibiru, the 12th planet of the solar system, therefore, ruler of the solar system. The main source of information about the Sumerian creation myth is the prologue to the epic poem Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Underworld, which briefly describes the creation process:
At first there is only Namu, the primeval sea [...] Then Namu gives birth to Anu, the sky, and Chi, the earth. Am and Qui mate, causing Qui to give birth to Enlil, the wind god. Enlil separates Am from Qui and takes the earth as his domain, while Am takes the sky.
— In Sumerian, the designation "An" was used interchangeably with "the heavens", so that in some cases it is doubtful whether under the term the god Anu or the heavens is being denoted. In Sumerian cosmogony, the sky was seen as a series of three domes covering the flat earth. Each of these domes of heaven was believed to be made of a different gemstone. Am was also believed to be the tallest and outermost of these domes, which were thought to be made of reddish stone. Outside this dome was the primordial body of water known as Namu. The sucal of Am was the god Ilabrate.
— Sukhal?
— A sort of assistant — Greg added.
— Exactly! The Inanna and Ebí, also known as the Goddess of Fearsome Divine Powers, is a 184-line poem written in Sumerian by the Akkadian poetess Enheduanna. Describes the confrontation of the granddaughter Inanna with Mount Ebí, known as the Cordillera in Zagros. He appears briefly in a scene in the poem where Inanna asks him to destroy Mount Ebí. A warning tells Inanna not to attack the mountain, but she ignores the warning and proceeds to attack and destroy Mount Ebí independently.
Professor Rossi drank some water and continued:
— The poem Inanna Takes Command of Heaven is an extremely fragmentary but important account of Inanna's conquest of the temple of Eana at Uruk. It begins with a conversation between Inanna and her brother Utu, in which Inanna regrets that the temple of Eana is not within her domain and resolves to claim it as her own. The text becomes increasingly fragmentary at this point in the narrative, but it seems to describe her difficult passage through a swamp to reach the temple, while a fisherman instructs her on which path is the best to follow. Eventually Inanna reaches Anu, who is appalled by her arrogance but nevertheless admits that she has succeeded and that the temple is now her domain. The text ends with a hymn that expounds Inanna's greatness. This myth may represent an eclipse in the authority of the priests of Anu in Uruk and a transfer of power to the priests of Inanna.
He continued:
— In Hittite mythology, Anu overthrows his father Alalu and proclaims himself ruler of the universe. He himself is later overthrown by his own son Cumarbi. Anu tries to run away, but Cumarbi bites off Anu's genitals and swallows them. Cumarbi banishes Anu to the underworld, along with his allies, the ancient gods, whom the Hittites syncretized with the Anunnaki. As a consequence of banishing his father, Cumarbi becomes impregnated with Anu's son Thesube and four other sons. After he matured, Tesube overthrew his father Cumarbi, avenging his grandfather Anu's defeat and maiming.
But before he could go on, the dean's secretary opens the door unannounced and says in a voice choked with concern:
— Professor, we have an emergency, Nicole Hulmann has passed out in the dean's office.