Among the hundreds of names which the lists furnish, a few are worthy of mention, either because of more than ordinary interest, or in consequence of their furnishing the name of some deity, chief in its locality, but identified elsewhere with one of the greater gods.
Aa.—This may be regarded either as the god Êa (though the name is written differently), or as the sun-god assuming the name of his consort; or (what is, perhaps, more probable) as a way of writing A'u or Ya'u (the Hebrew Jah), without the ending of the nominative. This last is also found under the form /Aa'u/, /ya'u/, /yau/, and /ya/.
Abil-addu.—This deity seems to have attained a certain popularity in
later times, especially among immigrants from the West. As "the son of
Hadad," he was the equivalent of the Syrian Ben-Hadad. A tablet in New
York shows that his name was weakened in form to /Ablada/.
Aku, the moon-god among the heavenly bodies. It is this name which is regarded as occurring in the name of the Babylonian king Eri-Aku, "servant of the moon-god," the biblical Arioch (Gen. xiv.).
Amma-an-ki, Êa or Aa as lord of heaven and earth.
Amna.—A name only found in a syllabary, and assigned to the sun-god, from which it would seem that it is a form of the Egyptian Ammon.
Anunitum, the goddess of one of the two Sippars, called Sippar of Anunitum, who was worshipped in the temple Ê-ulmaš within the city of Agadé (Akkad). Sayce identifies, on this account, these two places as being the same. In a list of stars, Anunitum is coupled with Šinunutum, which are explained as (the stars of) the Tigris and Euphrates. These were probably names of Venus as the morning and evening (or evening and morning) star.
Apsu.—The deep dissociated from the evil connection with Tiawath, and regarded as "the house of deep wisdom," i.e. the home of the god Êa or Aa.
Aruru.—One of the deities of Sippar and Aruru (in the time of the dynasty of Hammurabi called Ya'ruru), of which she was the chief goddess. Aruru was one of the names of the "lady of the gods," and aided Merodach to make the seed of mankind.
Bêl.—As this name means "lord," it could be applied, like the
Phœnician Baal, to the chief god of any city, as Bêl of Niffur, Bêl of
Hursag-kalama, Bêl of Aratta, Bêl of Babylon, etc. This often
indicates also the star which represented the chief god of a place.