Sin (Moon God)

seen

babylonian: Sîn

Definition

Sin (Sumerian Nanna; written in cuneiform as den.zu or d30) is the Mesopotamian moon god, and his name is the one attached to the Moon in Babylonian celestial divination. Within Enūma Anu Enlil — the master series of celestial omens — the Sin section (Tablets 1-22 in Koch's reconstruction) is the largest single part of the whole work. It deals with lunar eclipses, halos, crescents, conjunctions of the Moon with the planets, and the Moon's first appearances.

In Tradition

In Babylonian astral religion, as reconstructed by Rochberg, the Moon was the god made visible rather than a body separate from him — and a lunar eclipse was read as the moon god being "covered," in mourning. Sin's great cult centres were Ur in the south and Harran in the north, and lunar omens carried weight for matters of state, for kingship, and for who would succeed to the throne.

In Practice

Babylonian scribes tracked the lunar cycle without a break: the New Moon at its first visibility, the Full Moon on the standard 14th day of the month (a good omen), and any Full Moon that fell off the 14th day (an unfavourable sign). The Sargonid-era reports in SAA 8 preserve this daily lunar reporting from astronomer-scribes to the Assyrian king. Lunar eclipses were the weightiest omens of all: the observation noted the month, the day, the watch of night, the duration, the magnitude, the direction, the colour, the weather alongside it, and which stars and planets were visible near the eclipsed Moon. When a lunar eclipse threatened the king, the protective substitute-king ritual (šar puḫi) was set in motion.

Historical Origin

Lunar omens run from Old Babylonian forerunners (early 2nd millennium BCE) through Neo-Assyrian Sargonid practice (8th-7th century BCE, Hunger's SAA 8) to the Late Babylonian Astronomical Diaries (Sachs-Hunger, 1988-1996). The Sin section of Enūma Anu Enlil is edited in part by Rochberg (the 1988 lunar-eclipse tablets) and by Reiner-Pingree (the BPO).

Further Reading

  • Francesca Rochberg, The Heavenly Writing
  • Hermann Hunger, Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings (SAA 8)
  • Hermann Hunger & David Pingree, Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia