Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

Anu (1) 21AnkalammanGuardian goddess. Hindu-Dravidian (Tamil).Known particularly in southern India where shewards off demons. Alternatively she is an aspect ofKALI.Anna KuariLocal vegetation goddess. Indian. Worshiped bythe Oraon tribe of Chota Nagpur. The recipientof human sacrifice in the spring months, she wasbelieved to endow riches on the sacrificer and toensure plentiful harvest while living in his housein the form of a child.Anna PerennaProtective goddess. Roman. Allegedly she saved theplebeians from famine in their conflict with thepatricians in ancient Roman mythology. An openairfestival dedicated to her was held on March 15each year in a grove lying to the north of Rome.AnnamurtiForm of the god VIŠNU. Hindu (Puranic). Thepatron deity of kitchens and food. A shrine at Srirangamin southern India contains two-armedbronze images of the god. Attributes: a ball ofrice in one hand, and in the other a container ofpayasa (sweetened milk and rice).AnsaMinor sun god. Hindu (Puranic). One of sixADITYA descendants of ADITI.AnšarPrimordial deity. Mesopotamian (Babylonian-Akkadian). Mentioned in the Babylonian creationepic Enuma Eliš as one of a pair of offspring (withKIŠAR) of LAHMU and LAHAMU, and who in turncreated ANU. Anšar is linked with heaven whileKišar is identified with earth.AntiGuardian deity. Egyptian (Upper). Seems to havebecome assimilated with HORUS and was one ofthe protectors of the eastern sky in which the sunrises. According to some texts he is also responsiblefor the decapitation of the goddess HATHOR ina conflict for the throne of Egypt. Anti is knownfrom Middle Kingdom coffin texts (circa 2000 BC).Depicted as a falcon, or a human with a falcon’shead, standing on a crescent-shaped barque.ANTUORIGIN Mesopotamian (Babylonian-Akkadian)[Iraq]. Creator goddess.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 2000 BC, butevolving from prehistory, to circa 200 BC.SYNONYMS Antum; ANUNITU.CENTER(S) OF CULT Uruk and Babylon.ART REFERENCES glyptics, stone carvings, etc.LITERARY SOURCES Babylonian creation epicEnuma Eliš and documents relating to the akitufestival.Antu is a Babylonian goddess derived from theolder Sumerian KI, though the cosmogony hasbeen altered to suit a separate tradition. The consortof the god of heaven, ANU, she was a dominantfeature of the Babylonian akitu festival untilas recently as 200 BC, her later pre-eminence possiblyattributable to identification with the Greekgoddess HERA.Anu (1)Creator god. Mesopotamian (Babylonian-Akkadian). Consort of ANTU(m). Derived from