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SIN

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 138 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIN , the name of the See also:

moon-See also:god in Babylonia and See also:Assyria, also known as Nannar, the " illuminer." The two See also:chief seats of his See also:worship were Ur in the S., and See also:Harran considerably to the N., but the cult at an See also:early See also:period spread to other centres, and temples to the moon-god are found in all the large cities of Babylonia and Assyria. He is commonly designated as En-zu, i.e. " See also:lord of See also:wisdom," and this attribute clings to him throughout all periods. During the period (c. 2600-2400 B.C.) that Ur exercised a large measure of supremacy over the See also:Euphrates valley, Sin was naturally regarded as the See also:head of the See also:pantheon. It is to this period that we must trace such designations of the god as " See also:father of the gods," " chief of the gods," " creator of all things," and the like. We are justified in supposing that the cult of the moon-god was brought into Babylonia by the Semitic nomads from See also:Arabia. The moon-god is See also:par excellence the god of nomadic peoples, their See also:guide and See also:protector at See also:night when, during a See also:great See also:part of the See also:year, they undertake their wanderings, just as the See also:sun-god is the chief god of an agricultural See also:people. The cult once introduced would tend to persevere, and the development of astrological See also:science culminating in a See also:calendar and in a See also:system of See also:interpretation of the movements and occurrences in the starry heavens would be an important See also:factor in maintaining the position of Sin in the pantheon. The name of Sin's chief See also:sanctuary at Ur was E-gish-shir-gal, " See also:house of the great See also:light "; that at Harran was known as E-khul-khul, " house of joys." On See also:seal-cylinders he is represented as an old See also:man with flowing See also:beard, with the See also:crescent as his See also:symbol. In the astral-theological system he is represented by the number 30, and the See also:planet See also:Venus as his daughter by the number 15. The number 30 stands obviously in connexion with the See also:thirty days as the See also:average extent of his course until he stands again in See also:conjunction with the sun.

The " wisdom " personified by the moon-god is likewise an expression of the science of See also:

astrology in which the observation of the moon's phases is so important a factor. The tendency to centralize the See also:powers of the universe leads to the See also:establishment of the See also:doctrine of a triad consisting of Sin, See also:Shamash and See also:Ishtar (q.v.), personifying the moon, sun and the See also:earth as the See also:life-force. (M.

End of Article: SIN

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