AN is the head of the Sumerian pantheon. In the initial stages of the writing system his name was represented graphically by a star, which the writers interpreted as either the actual name of the god, as the sky, or as an element indicating the divine essence (the general name to indicate god). If it was intended to emphasize the divine nature of a character, the name was prefixed with the sign of an. This determinative does not predate the god An, however, so that it is sometimes difficult to decide whether writers are referring to the god or the sky. The relationship between the god An and the sky has been interpreted in different ways. For some scholars An is identical with the sky; for others they are two distinct entities. The absence of the determinative before his name means, furthermore, that it is impossible to know...