Sin (mythology)

Nanna, also Nannar, ( Akkadian Su'en, Assyrian / Babylonian Sin, Elamite Nannara ) is the Sumerian name of the Sumerian moon god as the city god of Ur, son of Enlil and the Ninlil. His wife is Ningal, his children are, among others, the sun god Utu, Inanna and the weather god Adad.

Etymology

The original meaning is unclear. The Sumerian spelling DINGIRŠEŠ.KI with the reading na -an- na comes from the logographic form DINGIRU4.SAKAR and syllabic ni -ni - in of ID DINGIRNanna -gu -gal and IDA.ŠA. - DINGIRNanna.

The occasional side form Nannar stems from the case DINGIRNanna -ar -e DINGIRSu'en and has the Akkadian term na -an- na -ru meaning light as background. Later DINGIRNANNA serves as a logogram for Nannaru. In the oldest surviving texts from Ur and Uruk the form DINGIRLAK32.NA appears.

Appearance

His residence is from the 3rd millennium BC, well- preserved ziggurat of Ur, the temple Ekišnugal. High priestess of Nanna was usually the daughter of the Sumerian ruler of Ur. The manifestations were varied and changed over time. In Mesopotamia, the crescent moon appears horizontally in the firmament. As a crescent moon interpretations have been proposed as the horns of a bull or a bow. The actual mythological background remains unclear.

In the Ur III period the moon god symbolized the wooden wagon wheel, a trough, a half-crown and the kidney. The usual initial derivation than twice lying crescent for the growing fruit, the eye or the circular boat ( Akkadian quppu ) is considered probable. Even today, the crescent moon with the round boat is compared in Iraq.

A spätakkadischer myth are attempts to use the figure Suen to explain a lunar eclipse: the gods Sin, Ishtar and Šamaš attempt to gain share of the power of the god Anu. This then sends his children, the seven deity against Sin, which surround them and block. It was only through the intervention of Enki he is freed.

Nanna as equating in other cultures

The Nanna / Sin appropriate deity at the Hurrians was Kušuh in the Ugaritern Jarich. In the Hittites and Luwians the moon god was called Arma (at least so say the mark of his name). In cuneiform it is reproduced because of the 30-day lunar month with the sign for 30.