An (cuneiform)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The An sign is a common cuneiform symbol with two main shapes: ASH 𒀸 and MAŠ 𒈦. It can be read as the syllable “an” and also used as an alphabetic sign for the sounds “a” or “n.” It appears often in long texts like the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Amarna letters from around 1350 BC.

An is also used to designate a god. When it marks a god, it is sometimes shown with a “dingir” marker (d or D), a sign that means “god.” For example, AN-UTU (also written as DUTU) refers to the Sun God UTU, using UTU as the sun-god Sumerogram.

An can also join with other signs to form compounds, such as DAGAL; in older versions, the sign for a god could include a star symbol inside it.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh (Tablets I–XII), the sign an is used in different ways: an 120 times, il 0 times, d 593 times, AN 27 times, and DINGIR 76 times.

Budge’s writings list many major Babylonian and Sumerian gods associated with this sign. In short, AN is a versatile sign used for sounds, letters, and the word “god” in cuneiform texts.