Nabu
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Template:Mesopotamian myth Template:Fertile Crescent myth (Arabian)
Nabu (Template:Langx,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Template:Langx<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>) is the Babylonian patron god of literacy, scribes, wisdom, and the rational arts. He is associated with the classical planet Mercury in Babylonian astronomy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Etymology and meaningEdit
The Akkadian Template:Tlit means 'announcer' or 'authorised person',<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> derived from the Semitic root Template:Smallcaps or Template:Smallcaps.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is cognate with Template:Langx, Template:Langx, and Template:Langx,<ref>p.1571, Alcalay. An alternative translation of this Hebrew word is derived from an Akkadian word "Nabu," meaning to call. The Hebrew "Navi" has a passive sense and means "the one who has been called" (see HALOT, p.661).</ref> all meaning 'prophet'.
HistoryEdit
Nabu was worshiped by the Babylonians and the Assyrians.<ref name= Bertman>Template:Cite book</ref> Nabu gained prominence among the Babylonians in the 1st millennium BC when he was identified as the son of the god Marduk.<ref name= Bertman/>
Nabu was worshipped in Babylon's sister city Borsippa, from where his statue was taken to Babylon each New Year so that he could pay his respects to his father.<ref name= Bertman/> Nabu's symbols included a stylus resting on a tablet as well as a simple wedge shape; King Nabonidus, whose name references Nabu, had a royal sceptre topped with Nabu's wedge.<ref name= Bertman/><ref name= Green>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Clay tablets with especial calligraphic skill were used as offerings at Nabu's temple. His wife was the Akkadian goddess Tashmet.<ref name= Bertman/>
Nabu was the patron god of scribes, literacy, and wisdom.<ref name= Bertman/> He was also the inventor of writing, a divine scribe, the patron god of the rational arts, and a god of vegetation.<ref name= Green/>Template:Rp<ref name= Britannica>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As the god of writing, Nabu inscribed the fates assigned to men and he was equated with the scribe god Ninurta.<ref name= Britannica/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> As an oracle he was associated with the Mesopotamian moon god Sin.<ref name= Green/>Template:Rp In the Babylonian tradition, planet Mercury was connected with Ninurta (as well as Saturn); because in the MUL.APIN Ninurta is consistently identified with Mercury,Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and it is read that: "Mercury whose name is Ninurta travels the (same) path the Moon travels." As Marduk took over the role of King of the gods from Enlil and inherited both his cultic roles and epithets as well as his position within the pantheon – the role of the most important son of the father of the gods that had previously belonged to Ninurta as son of Enlil (now replaced by Marduk); was thus taken over by Nabu, and Nabu became associated with the planet Mercury as well as being given connections with the moon god Sin, because as addressed in the MUL.APIN – even when Mercury was considered the planet of Ninurta, it still retained some moon-like aspects since it traveled the same path of the moon.
Nabu wore a horned cap, and stood with his hands clasped in the ancient gesture of priesthood. He rode on a winged dragon known as Sirrush that originally belonged to his father Marduk. In Babylonian astrology, Nabu was identified with the planet Mercury.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Nabu was continuously worshipped until the 2nd century, when cuneiform became a lost art.<ref name= Bertman/>
Today in Mandaean cosmology, the name for Mercury is Template:OkinaNbu ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), which is derived from the name Nabu.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Outside MesopotamiaEdit
Nabu's cult spread to ancient Egypt.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Names with Nabu in them are the most common theophoric names for Semitic speakers in Egypt as it was in the Neo-Babylonian texts.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Nabu was also one of the Canaanite and Israelite deities worshipped in Elephantine and Aswan alongside gods like Yahweh, Nanay, Bethel, Anat, and the Queen of Heaven.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In the Hebrew Bible, Nabu is mentioned as Nəḇo ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) in Isaiah 46:1 and Jeremiah 48:1.<ref name= Bertman/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In the Hellenistic period, Nabu was sometimes identified with Apollo as a giver of prophecies.<ref name= Bertman/><ref name= Green/>Template:Rp As the god of wisdom and a divine messenger, Nabu was linked with the Greek god Hermes, the Roman god Mercury, and the Egyptian deity Thoth.<ref name= Green/>Template:Rp