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Nabu is the Babylonian god of wisdom
Wisdom

Wisdom is knowledge, understanding, experience, discretion, and Intuition , along with a capacity to apply these qualities well towards finding solutions to problems....
 and writing
Writing

Writing is the representation of language in a textual Media through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and the recording of language via a non-textual medium such as Magnetic tape sound recording....
, worshipped by Babylonians as the son of Marduk
Marduk

Marduk was the Babylonian language name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon permanently became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi , started to slowly rise to the position of the head of the Babylonian pantheon, a position he fully acqu...
 and his consort, Sarpanitum, and as the grandson of Ea. Nabu's consort was Tashmetum
Tashmetum

Tashmetum is an Akkadian mythology goddess, the consort of the god Nabu....
.

Originally, Nabu was a West Semitic deity
Deity

A deity is a postulated preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divinity, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by human beings....
 introduced by the Amorites into Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
, probably at the same time as Marduk. While Marduk became Babylon's main deity, Nabu resided in nearby Borsippa
Borsippa

Borsippa was an important ancient city of Sumer, built on both sides of a lake about 17.7 km southwest of Babylon, on the east bank of the Euphrates....
 in his temple E-zida. He was first called the "scribe and minister of Marduk", later assimilated as Marduk's beloved son from Sarpanitum.






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Nabu is the Babylonian god of wisdom
Wisdom

Wisdom is knowledge, understanding, experience, discretion, and Intuition , along with a capacity to apply these qualities well towards finding solutions to problems....
 and writing
Writing

Writing is the representation of language in a textual Media through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and the recording of language via a non-textual medium such as Magnetic tape sound recording....
, worshipped by Babylonians as the son of Marduk
Marduk

Marduk was the Babylonian language name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon permanently became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi , started to slowly rise to the position of the head of the Babylonian pantheon, a position he fully acqu...
 and his consort, Sarpanitum, and as the grandson of Ea. Nabu's consort was Tashmetum
Tashmetum

Tashmetum is an Akkadian mythology goddess, the consort of the god Nabu....
.

Originally, Nabu was a West Semitic deity
Deity

A deity is a postulated preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divinity, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by human beings....
 introduced by the Amorites into Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
, probably at the same time as Marduk. While Marduk became Babylon's main deity, Nabu resided in nearby Borsippa
Borsippa

Borsippa was an important ancient city of Sumer, built on both sides of a lake about 17.7 km southwest of Babylon, on the east bank of the Euphrates....
 in his temple E-zida. He was first called the "scribe and minister of Marduk", later assimilated as Marduk's beloved son from Sarpanitum. During the Babylonian New Year Festival, the cult statue of Nabu was transported from Borsippa to Babylon in order to commune with his father Marduk.

Nabu is accorded the office of patron of the scribes, taking over from the Sumerian
Mesopotamian mythology

Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq....
 goddess Nisaba. His symbols are the clay writing tablet with the writing stylus. He wears a horned cap, and stands with hands clasped, in the ancient gesture of priesthood. He rides on a winged dragon
Dragon

File:Ukiyo-e dragon 2.jpgThe dragon is a legendary creature with serpentine shape or otherwise reptilian traits that features in the mythology of many cultures....
 (mušhuššu, also known as Sirrush
Sirrush

The sirrush is a creature depicted on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon, originally dating to the 6th century B.C. It resembles a scaly dragon with hind legs like an eagle's talons and felidae forelegs....
) that is initially Marduk's.

The etymology of his name is disputed. It could be derived from the root
Triliteral

The root of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or "radicals" . Such abstract consonantal roots are used in the derivation of actual words by adding the vowels and non-root consonants which go with a particular morphological category around the root consonants, in an appropriate...
 nb´ for "to call or announce", meaning something like "He who has called".

His power over human existence is immense, because Nabu engraves the destiny
Destiny

Destiny refers to a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a Predeterminism future, whether in general or of an individual. It is a concept based on the belief that there is a fixed natural order to the universe....
 of each person, as the Gods have decided, on the tablets of sacred record. Thus, He has the power to increase or diminish, at will, the length of human life
Life

Life is a characteristic of organisms that exhibit certain biological processes such as chemical reactions or other events that results in a transformation....
.

Nabu is mentioned in the Bible as Nebo in and .

A statue of Nabu from Calah, erected during the reign of Tiglath-pileser III is on display in the British Museum
British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than 7 million Object , are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present....
.

In late Babylonian astrology, Nabu was connected with the planet Mercury
Mercury (planet)

Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 88 days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest Orbital eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt....
. As the god of wisdom and writing, he was equated by the Greeks to either Apollo
Apollo

In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Apollo , is one of the most important and many-sided of the Twelve Olympians. The ideal of the kouros , Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more....
 or Hermes
Hermes

Hermes is the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. An Twelve Olympians, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of thieves and road travelers, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures, of invention, of general commerce, and of the cunni...
, the latter identified by the Romans with their own god Mercury
Mercury (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Mercury was a messenger, and a god of trade, profit and commerce, the son of Maia Maiestas, also known as Ops, the Roman version of Cronus, and Jupiter ....
.

In Popular Culture


  • The DC Comics mystical character Dr. Fate is named "Nabu".