Everything about Sin Mythology totally explained
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's represented as an old man with a flowing
beard and the crescent as his symbol. In the astral-theological system he's represented by the number 30 and the moon, symbolic of the moon's crescent that often appears next to him in Mesopotamian cylinder seals. This number probably refers to the average number of days (correctly around 29.53) in a
lunar month, as measured between successive
new moons.
The "wisdom" personified by the moon-god is likewise an expression of the science of
astrology, in which the observation of the moon's phases is so important a factor. The tendency to centralize the powers of the universe leads to the establishment of the doctrine of a triad consisting of Sin,
Shamash, and
Ishtar, respectively personifying the
moon, the
sun, and the planet
Venus.
He was named
Sin in
Babylonia and
Assyria, and was also worshipped in
Harran. 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 (Inanna is recognized as being the
Sumerian name for Ishtar). His symbols are the crescent moon, the bull (through his father,
Enlil, "Bull of Heaven"), and the tripod (which may be a lamp-stand).
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 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.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sin Mythology'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://sin__mythology.totallyexplained.com">Sin (mythology) Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
