Sin (mythology)

Impression of the cylinder seal of Ḫašḫamer, patesi (high priest) of Sin at Iškun-Sin, ca. 2100 B.C.E. The seated figure is probably Ur-Nammu, bestowing the governorship on Ḫašḫamer who is led before him by a lamma. Sin himself is present in the form of a crescent.

Sin (Akkadian: Sîn, Suen; Sumerian:Nanna) is a Sumerian god in Mesopotamian mythology. He is the god of the moon and the son of Enlil and Ninlil. His sacred city was Ur. The name Nanna is Sumerian for "illuminator."

Background

Sin's chief sanctuary at Ur was named E-gish-shir-gal ("house of the great light"). His sanctuary at Harran was named E-khul-khul ("house of joys"). On cylinder seals, he is represented as an old man with a flowing beard with the crescent as his symbol. In the later astral-theological system he is represented by the number 30 and the moon, often in crescent form. This number probably refers to the average number of days in a lunar month, as measured between successive new moons.

One of Nanna's attributes is wisdom, especially expressed in the science of astrology, in which the observation of the moon's phases was an important a factor. The centralizing tendency in Mesopotamian religion led to his incorporation in the divine triad consisting of Sin, Shamash, and Ishtar, respectively personifying the moon, the sun, and the planet Venus.

Known as Nanna in Sumer, he was named Sin in Babylonia and Assyria, and was also worshiped in Harran. In his anthropomorphized form, Sin had a beard made of lapis lazuli and rode on a winged bull. His wife was Ningal ("Great Lady"), who bore him Utu ("Sun") and Inanna (the Sumerian name for Ishtar). In art, his symbols are the crescent moon, the bull (through his father, Enlil, "Bull of Heaven"), and the tripod.

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

Seats of Sin's worship

The two chief seats of Sin's worship were Ur in the south, and Harran to the north. The cult of Sin spread to other centers, and temples of the moon-god are found in all the large cities of Babylonia and Assyria.

He is commonly designated as En-zu, or "lord of wisdom." During the period (c.2600-2400 B.C.E.) 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.

Sin and Nabonidus

Although Nabonidus' personal preference for Sîn is clear, scholars are divided regarding the degree of his supposed monotheism. In the Nabonidus cylinder currently displayed at the British Museum, the king refers to the moon god as "Sîn, king of the gods of heaven and the netherworld, without whom no city or country can be founded." Some claim that it is obvious from his inscriptions that he became almost henotheistic, considering Sîn as the national god of Babylon superior even to Marduk.

Others, however, insist that Nabonidus, while personally devoted to Sîn, respected the other cults in his kingdom, pointing out that he supported construction works to their temples and did not suppress their worship.[2] In this theory, his negative image is due mainly to his long absence from Babylon during his stay in Tayma, during which the important, Marduk-centered New Year festival could not take place, a fact which deeply offended the priests of Marduk. These priests, who were highly literate, left records denigrating the king in a fashion similar to the priests of Jerusalem denigrating the Israelite kings who did not properly honor Yahweh in the Hebrew Bible. In fact, there is no sign of the civil unrest during Nabonidus' reign, not even during his absence, and he was able to return to his throne and assert his authority with no apparent problem.

However, Nabonidus did remove important cultic statues and their attendants from southern Mesopotamia and brought them to Babylon. A number of contemporary inscriptions indicate that these statues and their priests were brought to Babylon just before the Persian attack that brought Cyrus to power. According to the Nabonidus Chronicle:

"In the month of [Âbu?], Lugal-Marada and the other gods of the town Marad; Zabada and the other gods of Kish; and the goddess Ninlil and the other gods of Hursagkalama visited Babylon. Till the end of the month Ulûlu all the gods of Akkad—those from above and those from below—entered Babylon. The gods of Borsippa, Cutha, and Sippar did not enter."

However, Nabonidus' motive in bringing these gods to the capital may not have been to take them hostage, but to ensure that they and their retinue received proper care and protection. In this theory, as Cyrus and his army made their way toward Babylon, Nabonidus gathered the traditional gods of Sumer and Akkad into the capital in order to protect them from being carried away or destroyed by the Persians.

Regardless of his motives, however, his actions exposed him to the criticism of his enemies. Thus, when Cyrus entered Babylon, one of his first acts was to demonstrate his piety before Marduk and his support of the local cults, simultaneously denigrating Nabonidus as unfit to rule. He thus returned the images to their places of origin, affirming in the Cyrus cylinder that he did so in obedience to the command of Marduk, while accusing Nabonidus of having offended the gods by bringing them to Babylon:

As for the gods of Sumer and Akkad which Nabonidus, to the wrath of the Lord of the gods, brought to Babylon, at the command of the great Lord Marduk I (Cyrus) caused them to dwell in peace in their sanctuaries, (in) pleasing dwellings."

This is confirmed by the Babylonian Chronicles, which indicate that, "The gods of Akkad which Nabonidus had made come down to Babylon, were returned to their sacred cities."

See also

• Religion of the Ancient Near East
• Ancient Semitic religion
• Great Ziggurat of Ur

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Tamara M. Green, The City of the Moon God: Religious Traditions of Harran. E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1992, 232 pages. ISBN 9004095136

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