Nanna / Sîn, the Moon-God
The moon that measures the months — wise elder of the gods, and the cause of a king's downfall.
The moon-god Nanna — Sin in Akkadian — was the great deity of the city of Ur and a god of the first rank. As the moon, he measured out the months and regulated the calendar, and he was honored as the wise elder who fathered the sun-god and the goddess Inana/Ishtar. His crescent was his emblem. Centuries later the last king of Babylon, Nabonidus, controversially elevated Sin's cult above Marduk's, a move that estranged Babylon's priesthood. The moon-god's long prominence shows how a city's patron could shape the religion of an empire.
Key passages(20)
A prayer to Nanna for Rīm-Sîn (Rīm-Sîn E)
A prayer to Nanna for Rīm-Sîn (Rīm-Sîn G)
An adab to Nanna for Išme-Dagan (Išme-Dagan M)
An adab to Nanna for Gungunum (Gungunum A)
A hymn to Nanna for Gungunum (Gungunum B)