see Cuneiform writing system,

About the cuneiform sign = AN

Sumerian. It developped in Sumerian times (3rd millenium BC) from the pictogram indicating a star. In Sumerian the sign is used as a logogram and has the following meanings:

• an The name of the Sumerian god An, a supreme god, god of heaven, father of the gods, in Akkadian called Anum later Anu with the Akkadian nominative ending -um, later -u.
• an meaning 'heaven' as opposed to ki 'earth'
• an 'dingir' meaning 'god' in general, for which the Akkadians have the word ilum

Akkadian. For Akkadian speakers the Sumerian language was for centuries (systematically at least up to the 18th centurie BC) the language of the scholars, long after the Sumerian language was used in every day speach. It is comparable to the use of Latin for many centuries in western civilizations. Akkadian has many Sumerian expressions and loan words. Most cuneiform signs are taken from the Sumerians. The Akkadian sign is used:

• as phonetic value an as part of a word or as a word by itself, a preposition meaning 'at', 'to', an abreviated form of the more usual word ana.
• as phonetic value il (through ilum 'god') but mostly in names and words having to do with gods.
• as logographic value AN, indicating
  • the god Anum
  • the Akkadian word ilu 'god'
  • the Akkadian word shamu 'sky', 'heaven'
• as determinative, indicating that the word to follow is the name of a god, transcribed as dingir

an il