(721-710) calls himself the "worshipper of Nabu and Marduk," and similarly others.

In official letters likewise, and in astronomical reports, Nabu is given precedence to Marduk, but this may be due to Nabu's functions, as the god of writing and the patron of science.
The Neo-Babylonian kings are not sparing in the epithets they bestow on Nabu, though they emphasize more his qualities as holder of the 'sceptre' than as lord of the 'stylus.' So Nebuchadnezzar declares that it is he 'who gives the sceptre of sovereignty to kings to rule over all lands.' In this capacity he is 'the upholder of the world,' 'the general overseer,' and his temple is called 'the house of the sceptre of the world.' His name signifies simply the 'proclaimer,' or herald, but we are left in doubt as to what he proclaims,--whether wisdom or sovereignty.
Sometimes he appears as the 'herald' of the gods.

In this role he receives the name of Papsukal (_i.e._, supreme or sacred messenger), and it may be that this function was a very old one.

But, again, as god of fertility he could also be appropriately termed the 'proclaimer.' The question must, accordingly, be left open as to the precise force of the attribute contained in his name.

Finally, an interesting feature connected with Nabu, that may be mentioned here, is that in the name borne by a famous mountain in Moab, Nebo, where Moses--himself a 'proclaimer'[135]--died, there survives a testimony that the worship of this popular deity extended beyond the Euphrates and the Tigris, to Semites living considerably to the west.