Anu was the Sumerian sky god and father of the gods.
His Sumerian name, An, literally means “sky” or “heaven.” Anu was imagined as the divine personification of the heavens, the highest authority in the pantheon, and the source of legitimate power for gods and kings. Mesopotamian traditions often called him the father or ancestor of the great gods.
Anu’s position was supreme in theory, but his practical role varied by period and city. Enlil often exercised greater authority in earlier Sumerian religious systems, while Marduk became Babylon’s chief god. Anu therefore functioned more as a remote, ancestral ruler than as the central character in many surviving myths.
In later Akkadian-language tradition, An became Anu. He was associated with the number 60 and with the central region of the tripartite Mesopotamian sky. He should not be confused with Enlil, the powerful god of air and authority, or Enki, the god of wisdom and freshwater.