📜 Nabu

Attributes & Domains

Mythology & Stories

Nabu's prominence grew throughout the first millennium BCE, eventually rivaling his father Marduk in some periods. His cult emphasized literacy, learning, and the preservation of knowledge as sacred acts.

Key Myths:

• Keeper of the Tablet of Destinies: Nabu served as scribe of the gods, recording divine decrees on the Tablet of Destinies (Ṭup Šīmāti). During the Akitu (New Year) festival, Nabu was said to inscribe each person's fate for the coming year. This role made him essential to cosmic order - what Nabu wrote became reality. The act of writing itself was thus seen as magically creative, bringing things into being through inscription.
• The Procession to Babylon: Each year during the Akitu festival, Nabu's statue was transported by boat from his cult center at Borsippa to Babylon to "visit" his father Marduk. This journey symbolized the son's support of the father's kingship and the cooperation between wisdom and power. The ritual emphasized that legitimate authority required both force (Marduk) and wisdom (Nabu).
• Nabu and the Art of Divination: As god of wisdom and writing, Nabu was patron of divinatory sciences. Scribes who interpreted omens, read astronomical signs, or performed extispicy (liver divination) operated under Nabu's protection. He was invoked to grant clarity of interpretation and accuracy in reading the signs sent by the gods. The systematic recording of omens and their outcomes fell under his domain, creating the vast omen libraries of Mesopotamia.

Relationships

Family

• Parents: Marduk (king of gods) and Sarpanit
• Consort(s): Tašmetu (also called Tašmētum), goddess of hearing and favor
• Children: Various minor deities in later traditions
• Siblings: Various divine offspring of Marduk

Allies & Enemies

• Allies: Marduk (father and king), Shamash (god of justice - both value truth), the entire scribal profession
• Enemies: Forces of chaos and ignorance, those who would destroy written records

Worship & Rituals

Sacred Sites

Nabu's primary temple was the Ezida ("True House") at Borsippa, near Babylon. The temple complex included a major ziggurat and extensive libraries where cuneiform tablets were copied, studied, and preserved. He also had temples in Nineveh, Nimrud, and throughout Mesopotamia. These temples functioned as scribal schools where young men learned the complex art of cuneiform writing under Nabu's patronage. Every temple library was considered under Nabu's protection.

Festivals

• Akitu Procession: During the New Year festival, Nabu's statue journeyed from Borsippa to Babylon in an elaborate river procession. Crowds lined the route, and upon arrival, Nabu "inscribed" the fates for the coming year. This ritual emphasized the renewal of cosmic order through divine writing.
• Scribal Graduation Ceremonies: When apprentice scribes completed their training, they made offerings to Nabu, dedicating their first independent work to the god. This initiated them into the professional scribal class under divine patronage.

Offerings

Offerings to Nabu included fresh water (for mixing clay), styluses and writing tools, clay tablets inscribed with prayers, grain and dates (connecting writing to agriculture), incense (especially cedar), and the firstfruits of scribal work. Scholars dedicated copied texts to Nabu, with colophons praising the god and requesting his blessing on the work. Kings who commissioned libraries or renovated scribal schools made grand offerings to Nabu.

Prayers & Invocations

Scribes invoked Nabu daily before beginning work: "O Nabu, lord of the stylus, open my understanding, guide my hand, grant me precision!" Students prayed for clarity of mind and retention of lessons. Diviners sought Nabu's aid in correctly interpreting omens. Typical prayer structure praised Nabu's wisdom, requested specific assistance, and promised faithful service in return. Many cuneiform tablets end with "Praise to Nabu!" as a scribal signature.

The Scribal Profession

To be a scribe in ancient Mesopotamia was to serve Nabu directly. The profession was hereditary and highly respected, as literacy was rare and powerful. Scribes underwent years of rigorous training in the "tablet house" (edubba), learning thousands of cuneiform signs, mathematical calculations, legal formulas, medical texts, and religious hymns. They were essential to administration, commerce, law, religion, and the preservation of culture itself.

Royal scribes recorded kings' deeds, temple scribes maintained ritual calendars and divination records, merchant scribes tracked trade, and scholarly scribes copied ancient texts. All worked under Nabu's patronage, and the god's favor was seen as essential to accurate, clear writing. Scribal colophons often invoked curses (through Nabu) on anyone who would damage or steal tablets.