Sin (mythology)

Sīn /ˈsiːn/ or Suen (Akkadian: 𒂗𒍪 EN.ZU, pronounced Su'en,

Nanna
Sîn)[1] or Nanna (Sumerian: 𒀭𒋀𒆠 DŠEŠ.KI, DNANNA) was
the god of the moon in the Mesopotamian religions of Sumer, God of the Moon
Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia. Nanna is a Sumerian deity, the
son of Enlil and Ninlil, and became identified with the Semitic
Sīn. The two chief seats of Nanna's/Sīn's worship were Ur in the
south of Mesopotamia and Harran in the north. A moon god by
the same name was also worshipped in South Arabia.
Impression of the cylinder seal of
Ḫašḫamer, ensi (governor) of Iškun-
Contents Sin c. 2100 BC. The seated figure is
probably king Ur-Nammu, bestowing
Name
the governorship on Ḫašḫamer, who
Background is led before him by a lamma
Seats of worship (protective goddess). Sin/Nanna
South Arabia himself is indicated in the form of a
crescent.
References
Symbol Bull, Crescent
External links
Personal information
Consort Ningal
Name Children Shamash, Inanna

The original meaning of the name Nanna is unknown. The

earliest spelling found in Ur and Uruk is DLAK-32.NA
(where NA is to be understood as a phonetic complement).
The name of Ur, spelled (cuneiform: 𒋀𒀕𒆠) LAK-
32.UNUGKI=URIM2KI, is itself derived from the theonym,
and means "the abode (UNUG) of Nanna (LAK-32)". He
was also the father of Ishkur.

The pre-classical sign LAK-32 later collapses with ŠEŠ (the

ideogram for "brother"), and the classical Sumerian spelling
is DŠEŠ.KI, with the phonetic reading na-an-na. The
technical term for the crescent moon could also refer to the
deity, (cuneiform: 𒀭𒌓𒊬 DU4.SAKAR). Later, the name
Reconstruction of the Ziggurat of Ur, the
main shrine to Nanna, based on the 1939
reconstruction by Leonard Woolley (Ur
Excavations vol. V, fig. 1.4)

is spelled logographically as DNANNA.

The Semitic moon god Su'en/Sin is in origin a separate deity from Sumerian Nanna, but from the
Akkadian Empire period the two undergo syncretization and are identified. The occasional Assyrian
spelling of DNANNA-ar DSu'en-e is due to association with Akkadian na-an-na-ru "illuminator, lamp",
an epitheton of the moon god. The name of the Assyrian moon god Su'en/Sîn is usually spelled as
DEN.ZU, or (h⁴8im)5 simply with the numeral 30, (cuneiform: 𒀭𒌍 DXXX).[2]
Background
He is commonly designated as En-zu, which means "lord of wisdom". During the period (c. 2600–2400
BC) that Ur exercised a large measure of supremacy over the Euphrates valley, Sin was naturally
regarded as the head of the pantheon . It is to this period that we must trace such designations of Sin as
"father of the gods", "chief of the gods", "creator of all things" , and the like. The "wisdom" personified
by the moon-god is likewise an expression of the science of astronomy or the practice of astrology, in
which the observation of the moon's phases is an important factor.

His wife was Ningal ("Great Lady"), who bore him Utu/Shamash ("Sun") and Inanna/Ishtar (the goddess
of the planet Venus). The tendency to centralize the powers of the universe leads to the establishment of
the doctrine of a triad consisting of Sin/Nanna and his children.

Sin had a beard made of lapis lazuli and rode on a winged bull. The bull was one of his symbols, through
his father, Enlil, "Bull of Heaven", along with the crescent and the tripod (which may be a lamp-stand).
On cylinder seals, he is represented as an old man with a flowing beard and the crescent symbol. In the
astral-theological system he is represented by the number 30 and the moon. This number probably refers
to the average number of days (correctly around 29.53) in a lunar month, as measured between
successive new moons.

An important Sumerian text ("Enlil and Ninlil")[3] tells of the descent of Enlil and Ninlil, pregnant with
Nanna/Sin, into the underworld. There, three "substitutions" are given to allow the ascent of Nanna/Sin.
The story shows some similarities to the text known as "The Descent of Inanna".

Seats of worship
Nanna's chief sanctuary at Ur was named E-gish-shir-gal, "house of the great light" (cuneiform:
𒂍𒄑𒋓𒃲 e2-giš-šir-gal). It was at Ur that the role of the En-Priestess developed. This was an
extremely powerful role held by a princess, most notably Enheduanna, daughter of King Sargon of
Akkad, and was the primary cult role associated with the cult of Nanna/Sin.[4]

Sin also had a sanctuary at the city of Harran, named E-hul-hul, "house of joys" (cuneiform: 𒂍𒄾𒄾
e2-ḫul2-ḫul2). The cult of the moon-god spread to other centers, so that temples to him are found in all
the large cities of Babylonia and Assyria. A sanctuary for Sin with Syriac inscriptions invoking his name
dating to the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE was found at Sumatar Harabesi in the Tektek Mountains, not far
from Harran and Edessa.

South Arabia
Sin (𐩬𐩺𐩪) was also the name of the pre-Islamic god of the moon and riches worshipped in Hadhramaut.[5]

References
1. "Cuneiform dictionnary" (http://home.zcu.cz/~ksaskova/Sign_List.html).
2. Reallexikon der Assyriologie, 1997, ISBN 978-3-11-014809-1, p.360 (https://books.google.c
om/books?id=O1yFrzi-MgYC&pg=RA2-PA360)
3. "Enlil and Ninlil: translation" (http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr121.htm).
4. Hall, M. D. A Study of Sumerian Moon God Nanna/Suen (http://repository.upenn.edu/dissert
ations/AAI8603645/). Phd thesis, University of Pennyslviania, 1985, p. 227]
 5. Manfred Lurker (2015). A Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demo m,nĺns (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=P7e5CAAAQBAJ&pg=PT227). Routledge. p. 227.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm,
Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sin (moon-god)". Encyclopædia Britannica. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge
University Press. p. 138.

External links
Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses: Nanna/Suen/Sin (god) (http://oracc.museum.
upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/nannasuen/)
Tamara M. Green, The City of the Moon God: Religious Traditions of Harran. E.J. Brill,
Leiden, 1992, 232 pages. ISBN 90-04-09513-6
The Ur and Harran Latitudes, and Göbekli Tepe (http://jqjacobs.net/blog/gobekli_tepe.html)

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