in Mesopotamian religion, Sumero-Akkadian god of light and fire. His father was Sin (Sumerian: Nanna), the moon god. Semitic texts describe Nusku as the king of the night, who illuminates the darkness and repels the demons of the dark. On Babylonian boundary stones he is identified by a lamp. He is visible at the new moon and thus is called its son. The last day of the month is sacred to him, so that he is a lunar deity. As fire, he figures much in incantations and rituals.