Anunna
/əˈnʊn.ə/noun
A collective name for a group of major deities in ancient Mesopotamian religion.
Did you know?In Sumerian texts, the Anunna were divine authorities connected with cosmic order, judgment, and rulership—not extraterrestrials; that modern interpretation arose millennia later.
Etymological Timeline
Late 3rd Millennium BCE
Sumerian
Anuna
“A collective designation for a group of major gods; the exact internal formation is debated.”
Late 3rd Millennium BCE
Sumerian
Anuna(k)
“A divine group associated in some traditions with An, the sky god; the ending may be grammatical rather than part of the name.”
2nd Millennium BCE
Akkadian
Anunnakū
“Akkadian rendering of the Sumerian divine collective, used for powerful or senior gods.”
1st Millennium BCE
Akkadian
Anunnaki
“A conventional scholarly form referring to the Mesopotamian divine assembly.”
Modern English
English
Anunna
“A scholarly transliteration and modern loanword for the ancient Mesopotamian gods, sometimes treated as a shorter form of Anunnaki.”