Nabu

Nabū
God of literacy, the rational arts, scribes and wisdom
Statue of the Attendant God from the Temple of Nabu at Nimrud, Mesopotamia on display at the British Museum.
Abode	Borsippa
Symbol	Clay tablet and stylus
Consort	Tashmet
Parents	Marduk and Sarpanitum

Nabu (Syriac: ܢܒܘ‎) is the Mesopotamian patron god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes and wisdom, being worshipped by the Assyrian and Babylonian people.

Nabu's name means "to call" in Akkadian language, while later cognates in Aramaic language and Hebrew language translate it as "one who has been called" or "one who can prophesy".

Nabu was worshipped by the Babylonians and the Assyrians. Nabu was known as Nisaba in the Sumerian pantheon and gained prominence among the Babylonians in the first millennium BC when he was identified as the son of the god Marduk.

Nabu was worshipped in Babylon's sister city Borsippa, where his statue was moved to Babylon each New Year so that he could pay his respects to his father. Nabu's symbol was a stylus resting on a tablet. Clay tablets with especial calligraphic skill were used as offerings at Nabu's temple. His wife was the Akkadian goddess Tashmet.

Nabu was the patron god of scribes, literacy and wisdom, as well as the inventor of writing, a divine scribe, and the patron of all the rational arts. Due to his role as an oracle, Nabu was associated with the Mesopotamian moon god Sin.

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.

Nabu was continuously worshipped until the 2nd century C.E. when cuneiform became a lost art.