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149-632: Other sites traditionally thought to be Abraham's birthplace are in the vicinity of the city of Edessa (now Urfa in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey). Ur Kaśdim is mentioned four times in the Hebrew Bible , in the Book of Genesis ( Genesis 11:28 , Genesis 11:31 , Genesis 15:7 ), and the Book of Nehemiah ( Nehemiah 9:7 ). The distinction "Kaśdim" is usually rendered in English as "of

298-652: A martyrium of Thomas the Apostle and the text of the Letter of Jesus inscribed on the city walls, said to protect the city. She saw a longer version of the Letters than she was previously familiar with, and was assured that the holy words had repelled a Persian assault on the city. According to the Chronicle of Edessa , in 394 the relics of Saint Thomas were translated into the great Church of St Thomas and in 442 they were encased in

447-573: A Roman colonia in 212 or 213, though there continued to be local kings of Osroene until 243 or 248. In Late Antiquity , Edessa was an important city on the Roman – Persian frontier with the Sasanian Empire . It resisted the attack of Shapur I ( r.  240–270 ) in his third invasion of Roman territory. The 260 Battle of Edessa saw Shapur defeat the Roman emperor Valerian ( r.  253–260 ) and capture him alive, an unprecedented disaster for

596-400: A king of the gods in his own right, is also attested, though it only had limited recognition. In Mesopotamian art , his symbol was the crescent. When depicted anthropomorphically, he typically either wore headwear decorated with it or held a staff topped with it, though on kudurru the crescent alone serves as a representation of him. He was also associated with boats. The goddess Ningal

745-435: A barge are known too, and presumably reflect the belief that he traversed the night sky in this vehicle, as documented in textual sources. Based on Old Babylonian sources is presumed that the lunar barge was considered a representation of a phase of the moon, specifically the gibbous moon . It could be metaphorically compared to a type bowl (Sumerian dilim 2 , Akkadian tilimtu ), apparently also regarded as an attribute of

894-559: A church dedicated to Saint Stephen in a building that had been a synagogue . The city was a site of major unrest in 449 due to an attempt to depose its bishop, Ibas . When Nisibis ( Nusaybin ) was ceded to the Sasanian Empire along with Arzanene , Moxoene , Zabdicene , Rehimena and Corduene in 363, Ephrem the Syrian left his native town for Edessa, where he founded the celebrated School of Edessa . This school, largely attended by

1043-468: A connection between Sin, Nuska and hitherto unknown deities worshiped by this group. While assertions that Ishkur was regarded as a further son of Sin can be found in older literature, no primary sources confirm the existence of such a tradition. Sin's sukkal (attendant deity) was Alammuš . He and Ningublaga were often associated with each other and could be even referred to as twin brothers. Manfred Krebernik notes that this might indicate that he

1192-455: A divine judge in the underworld , as attested for example in the so-called First Elegy of the Pushkin Museum , in which a man named Ludingira hopes that he will proclaim a good verdict for his deceased father. This role might have originally developed as a way to explain why the moon is not visible for a part of each month. The composition in mention states that his judgment took place on

1341-509: A joint venture toward Palestine , instead of a Jewish-Arab alliance against the Meccan pagans toward the south. The Byzantine Empire often tried to retake Edessa, especially under Romanos I Lekapenos , who obtained from the inhabitants the " Image of Edessa ", an ancient portrait of Christ, and solemnly transferred it to Constantinople , August 16, 944. This was the final great achievement of Romanus's reign. This venerable and famous image, which

1490-462: A man of the sons of Ishmael named Mahmet, a merchant, became prominent. A sermon about the Way of Truth, supposedly at God's command, was revealed to them... he ordered them all to assemble together and to unite in faith... He said: "God promised that country to Abraham and to his son after him, for eternity. And what had been promised was fulfilled during that time when [God] loved Israel. Now, however, you are

1639-487: A manifestation of Sin's wrath . The former are also mentioned in curse formulas as a punishment he could inflict upon oath breakers. A number of sources attest the existence of a tradition in which Sin was regarded as the sole head of the Mesopotamian pantheon or a deity equal in rank to the traditional kings of the gods , Anu and Enlil . According to Wilfred G. Lambert , most of the evidence for this view postdates

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1788-570: A role in building and renovation activities. They are chiefly documented in sources from between the Sargonic and early Old Babylonian periods. They were typically daughters of kings. Enheduanna , the daughter of Sargon of Akkad , was a particularly famous en priestess. She is also the earliest attested holder of this office, with available evidence including the so-called "disc of Enheduanna", seals of her servants, and literary compositions copied in later periods traditionally attributed to her. It

1937-531: A silver casket. According to the late-6th-century Frankish hagiographer and bishop Gregory of Tours , the relics had themselves been brought from India, while in Edessa an annual fair (and alleviation of customs duties) was held at the church in July in the saint's honour (the feast of St Thomas was observed on 3 July) during which, Gregory alleged, water would appear in shallow wells and flies disappeared. According to Joshua

2086-405: A son of Enlil for political reasons. The compilers of the god list An = Anum apparently did not acknowledge this tradition directly, as in contrast with Ninurta Sin does not appear in the section focused on Enlil and his family. However, his status as his son is seemingly reflected in the epithets Dumununna, "son of the prince", and Dumugi, "noble son". Sin is also kept separate from Enlil in

2235-400: A specific phase of the moon. Lunar eclipses were believed to be the result of Sin being surrounded by seven evil utukku sent by Anu . Next to his astral aspect, Sin's other main role has been described as that of a pastoral deity. He was associated with cattle and with dairy products . This link is reflected in his secondary names Abkar, "shining cow", and Ablulu, "the one who makes

2384-429: Is AŠ -im 4 -babbar ( 𒀭𒀸𒁽𒌓 ). It was originally assumed that it should be read as Ašimbabbar, though it was subsequently proved that this depended on an erroneous collation. By 2016 the consensus view that Dilimbabbar is the correct reading was established based on the discovery of multiple passages providing phonetic syllabic spellings. The name can be translated as "the shining one who walks alone". This meaning

2533-488: Is also attested for Bau and Ningirsu . Enlil and Ninlil were usually regarded as Sin's parents. It has been argued that an Early Dynastic text from Abu Salabikh already refers to Enlil and Ninlil as his parents, though an alternate view is that he oldest certain evidence only goes back to the reign of Ur-Nammu of the Third Dynasty of Ur . It has been argued that in this period he might have started to be viewed as

2682-609: Is also called Thomas" . However, various sources confirm that the Abgar who embraced the Christian faith was Abgar IX . Under him Christianity became the official religion of the kingdom. Addai was succeeded by Aggai , then by Saint Mari , who was ordained about 200 by Serapion of Antioch . Thence came to us in the second century the famous Peshitta , or Syriac translation of the Old Testament ; also Tatian 's Diatessaron , which

2831-402: Is attested in Edessa in the 2nd century; the gnostic Bardaisan was a native of the city and a philosopher at its court. From 212 to 214 the kingdom was a Roman province . The Roman emperor Caracalla was assassinated on the road from Edessa to Carrhae (now Harran ) by one of his guards in 217. Edessa became one of the frontier cities of the province of Osroene and lay close to the border of

2980-671: Is first attested in the Uruk period . In earliest cuneiform texts from Uruk and Ur it was written as LAK -32.NA, with NA possibly serving as a phonetic complement . The name of the city of Ur (Urim) was accordingly written as LAK-32.UNUG ( 𒋀𒀕𒆠 ), "residence of Nanna", per analogy with toponyms such as Zabalam , INANNA .UNUG . In later periods LAK-32 coalesced with ŠEŠ (the ideogram for "brother"), and Nanna's name came to be written as ŠEŠ+KI or ŠEŠ.KI, though phonetic spellings such as na-an-na are attested too, for example as glosses in lexical lists . In early Assyriological scholarship it

3129-470: Is it not certain if the office of en was only established at this point in time as an innovation, or if it developed from an earlier Early Dynastic title tied to the cult of the moon god. Later en priestesses include Enmenanna  [ pl ] , daughter of Sargon's grandson Naram-Sin of Akkad (named as "zirru priestess of the god Nanna, spouse of the god N[anna], entu priestess of the god Sin at Ur"); Enannepada, daughter of Ur-Baba of Lagash and

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3278-626: Is mentioned four times in the Torah or Hebrew Bible , with the distinction "of the Kasdim/Kasdin"—traditionally rendered in English as "Ur of the Chaldees". The Chaldeans had settled in the vicinity by around 850 BC, but were not extant anywhere in Mesopotamia during the 2nd millennium BC period when Abraham is traditionally held to have lived. The Chaldean dynasty did not rule Babylonia (and thus become

3427-428: Is not a direct translation of Dilimbabbar, as it effectively leaves out the element dilim . Bendt Alster assumed that the equivalence was the result of late reinterpretation. Sin was understood both as an anthropomorphic deity representing the moon, and as the astral body itself. He was responsible for providing light during the night. His luminous character could be highlighted with epithets such as "the luminary of

3576-433: Is not certain if at this point in time it was understood as a title of Sin or as the name of a distinct deity of analogous character. Mark Glenn Hall notes that the absence of theophoric names invoking the moon god under this name from available sources might indicate that if Dilimbabbar was ever understood as a distinct deity this tradition disappeared very early on. However, Manfred Krebernik and Jan Lisman point out that in

3725-408: Is not known. However, there is no doubt that even before AD 190 Christianity had spread vigorously within Edessa and its surroundings and that shortly after the royal house joined the church. According to a legend first reported by Eusebius in the fourth century, King Abgar V was converted by Thaddeus of Edessa ( Addai ), who was one of the seventy-two disciples , sent to him by "Judas, who

3874-493: Is not possible to differentiate between them as designations of separate deities, as they effectively fully merged at an early date. Gebhard J. Selz  [ de ] points out this phenomenon is already attested in sources from Lagash from the Early Dynastic period , where the name Nanna does not appear, and Sin is the form used in both Sumerian and Akkadian context. The process of conflation presumably started prior to

4023-565: Is not universal. Many Pentateuchal translations, from the Septuagint to some modern English versions, render moledet as "kindred" or "family". Writing in the 4th century AD, Ammianus Marcellinus in his Rerum Gestarum Libri ( chapter VIII ) mentions a castle named Ur which lay between Hatra and Nisibis . A. T. Clay understood this as an identification of Ur Kaśdim, although Marcellinus makes no explicit claim in this regard. In her Travels ( chapter XX ), Egeria , recording travels dated to

4172-578: Is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey . It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator ( r.  305–281 BC ), founder of the Seleucid Empire . He named it after an ancient Macedonian capital . The Greek name Ἔδεσσα ( Édessa ) means "tower in the water". It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene , and continued as capital of

4321-513: Is the Mesopotamian god representing the moon . While these two names originate in two different languages, respectively Akkadian and Sumerian , they were already used interchangeably to refer to one deity in the Early Dynastic period . They were sometimes combined into the double name Nanna-Suen . A third well attested name is Dilimbabbar ( 𒀭𒀸𒁽𒌓 ). Additionally, the name of the moon god could be represented by logograms reflecting his lunar character, such as 30 ( 𒀭𒌍 ), referring to days in

4470-421: Is the earliest to allege that a painting (or icon ) of Jesus was enclosed with the reply to Abgar and that the city of Edessa was prophesied never to fall. According to this text, Edessenes were early adopters of Christianity; the inhabitants of the neighbouring city of Carrhae ( Harran ), by contrast, were pagans. According to the Chronicle of Edessa , the early 5th-century theologian and bishop Rabbula built

4619-414: Is the site where Abraham was cast into a furnace by Nimrod as punishment for his monotheistic beliefs, but miraculously escaped unscathed. The Turkish name for the city, Urfa , is derived from the earlier Syriac ܐܘܪܗܝ ( Orhāy ) and Greek Ορρα (Orrha), the city being a major centre of Assyrian-Syriac Christianity. Islamic tradition holds that the site of Abraham's birth is a cave situated near

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4768-546: The Temple Hymns (hymn 37) Dilimbabbar is addressed as a shepherd of Sin, which they argue might be a relic of an intermediate stage between the existence of two independent moon gods and their full conflation. For unknown reasons the name Dilimbabbar is absent from all the other known Early Dynastic sources, as well as these from the subsequent Sargonic and Ur III periods, with the next oldest attestation being identified in an inscription of Nur-Adad of Larsa from Ur from

4917-745: The Church of the East . Miaphysitism prospered at Edessa after the Arab conquest. Under the Sassanian emperor Kavad I ( r.  488–531 ), the Sasanids attacked Edessa. According to Joshua the Stylite the shrine outside the walls set up in the 340s was burnt by his troops. Edessa was rebuilt by Justin I ( r.  518–527 ), and renamed Justinopolis after him. The Greek historian Procopius , in his Persian Wars , describes

5066-776: The Ilkhanate sent troops to Edessa in 1260 at which point the town voluntarily submitted to them. The populace of Edessa were thus saved from being massacred by the Mongols. Edessa was also held by the Mamluk Sultanate , and the Aq Qoyunlu . Edessa was subsequently controlled by the Safavid dynasty , and from 1517 to 1918 the Ottoman Empire . Under the Ottomans in 1518, the population of Edessa

5215-758: The Isin-Larsa period , Kurigalzu I of the Kassite dynasty of Babylon , Marduk-nadin-ahhe and Adad-apla-iddina of the Second Dynasty of Isin , and Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire . Other houses of worship dedicated to Sin existed in Ur too. For example, liturgical texts mention the ceremonial name Edimanna, "house, bond of heaven". Enamnunna, "house of princeliness", rebuilt by Sin-Iddinam , might have been located in Ur too. A ziggurat dedicated to Sin

5364-423: The Isin-Larsa period , which might reflect a rediscovery of the name by scribes under hitherto unknown circumstances. It remained in use through subsequent periods, down to the first millennium BCE. The Akkadian epithet Namraṣit was considered analogous to Dilimbabbar, as attested in the god list An = Anum (tablet III, line 26). It can be translated as "whose rise is luminous". Steinkeller points out that it

5513-676: The Muslim conquest of the Levant . It did not return to the Romans' control until the Byzantine Empire temporarily recovered the city in the mid-10th century after a number of failed attempts. The Byzantine Empire regained control in 1031, though it did not remain under their rule long and changed hands several times before the end of the century. The County of Edessa, one of the Crusader states set up after

5662-480: The Neo-Assyrian period she was regarded as a daughter of Sin. A god list from Nineveh might indicate that she was viewed as a daughter of the moon god specifically when she was counted among deities belonging to the entourage of Enlil. A further goddess related to Inanna, Annunitum , could similarly be addressed as a daughter of Sin, though this tradition is only preserved in inscriptions of Nabonidus documenting

5811-468: The Old Babylonian forerunner of this text, which has been argued to be a reflection of an earlier tradition in which they were not viewed as son and father. While references to Anu being the father of Sin are also known, they are most likely metaphorical, and do not represent a distinct genealogical tradition. In the myth Enlil and Ninlil Sin's brothers are Nergal , Ninazu and Enbilulu , though

5960-566: The Old Babylonian period onward he was also closely associated with Harran . The importance of this city as his cult center grew in the first millennium BCE, as reflected in Neo-Hittite , Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian sources. Sin's temple survived in later periods as well, under Achaemenid , Seleucid and Roman rule. Sin was also worshiped in many other cities in Mesopotamia. Temples dedicated to him existed for example in Tutub , which early on

6109-506: The Sasanian Empire . The Battle of Edessa took place between the Roman armies under the command of the emperor Valerian and the Sasanian forces under emperor Shapur I in 260. The Roman army was defeated and captured in its entirety by the Persian forces, including Valerian himself, an event which had never previously happened. The literary language of the tribes that had founded this kingdom

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6258-465: The Seleucid Empire disintegrated during wars with Parthia (145–129 BC), Edessa became the capital of the Abgarid dynasty , who founded the kingdom of Osroene (also known as Edessa). This kingdom was established by Arabs from the northern Arabian Peninsula and lasted nearly four centuries (c. 132 BC to A.D. 214), under twenty-eight rulers, who sometimes called themselves "king" on their coinage. Edessa

6407-594: The Sumerian city of Ur (founded c. 3800 BC), in southern Mesopotamia , where the Chaldeans settled much later (around the 9th century BC); Ur lay on the boundary of the region later called Kaldu (Chaldea, corresponding to Hebrew Kaśdim ) in the first millennium BCE. It was the sacred city of the moon god and the name "Camarina" is thought to be related to the much later appearing Arabic word for "moon": qamar . The identification of Sumerian Ur with Ur Kaśdim accords with

6556-651: The Ugaritic , Hurrian and Hittite pantheons. However, the old proposal that Hurrians, and by extension Hittites and inhabitants of Ugarit, received her from Harran is regarded as unproven, as she does not appear in association with this city in any sources from the second millennium BCE. She is also absent from Luwian sources pertaining to the worship of Sin of Harran in the first millennium BCE. The best attested children of Sin were Utu (Shamash) and Inanna (Ishtar). The connection between these three deities depended on their shared astral character, with Sin representing

6705-458: The ancient capital of Macedonia , perhaps due to its abundant water, just like its Macedonian namesake. It was later renamed Callirrhoe or Antiochia on the Callirhoe ( Ancient Greek : Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Καλλιρρόης ; Latin : Antiochia ad Callirhoem ) in the 2nd century BC (found on Edessan coins struck by Antiochus IV Epiphanes , r. 175–164 BC). After Antiochus IV's reign, the name of

6854-434: The lunar month or U 4 .SAKAR ( 𒀭𒌓𒊬 ), derived from a term referring to the crescent . In addition to his astral role, Sin was also closely associated with cattle herding. Furthermore, there is some evidence that he could serve as a judge of the dead in the underworld . A distinct tradition in which he was regarded either as a god of equal status as the usual heads of the Mesopotamian pantheon , Enlil and Anu , or as

7003-543: The theonym syn attested in a number of inscriptions from South Arabia should be interpreted as a variant of Sin's name too, and suggests vocalizing it similarly to the Eblaite form of the name. However, Manfred Krebernik  [ de ] concludes that no certain cognates of Sin's name have been identified in other Semitic languages, and syn (or sn ), who according to him is only known from Thamudic inscription from Hadhramaut , should instead be interpreted as Sayin,

7152-424: The "lord of the gods" who possessed "Enlilship", "Anuship" and "Eaship". However, Melanie Groß stresses that Nabonidus' devotion should for the most part not be treated as an unusual phenomenon, save for the fact that Harran was not the center of his empire. She notes that the elevation of city deities significant for specific rulers to the top of the pantheon of the respective states is well documented for example in

7301-509: The 11th century. Of its Jacobite bishops, twenty-nine are mentioned by Le Quien (II, 1429 sqq.), many others in the Revue de l'Orient chrétien (VI, 195), some in Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft (1899), 261 sqq. Moreover, Nestorian bishops are said to have resided at Edessa as early as the 6th century. The Armenian chronicler Sebeos , bishop of Bagratid Armenia writing in

7450-498: The 1514 Battle of Chaldiran . The earliest name of the city was Admaʾ (red)(also written Adme , Admi , Admum ; Imperial Aramaic : אדמא ), recorded in Assyrian cuneiform in the second millennium BC. It is recorded in Syriac as ܐܕܡܐ Adme. The ancient town was refounded as a Hellenistic military settlement by Seleucus I Nicator in c.  303 BC, and named Edessa after

7599-516: The 2nd century BC historian Eupolemus . The passage claimed that Abraham was born in the Babylonian city Camarina, which it notes was also called "Uria". (Such indirect quotations of Eupolemus via Polyhistor are referred to as Pseudo-Eupolemus .) This site is identified by modern scholars with the Sumerian city of Ur located at Tell el-Mukayyar, which in ancient texts was named Uriwa or Urima . In 1927 Leonard Woolley identified Ur Kaśdim with

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7748-605: The 660s, gives the earliest narrative accounts of Islam in any language today. Sebeos writes of a Jewish delegation going to an Arab city (possibly Medina ) after the Byzantines conquered Edessa: Twelve peoples [representing] all the tribes of the Jews assembled at the city of Edessa. When they saw that the Iranian troops had departed ... Thus Heraclius, emperor of the Byzantines, gave the order to besiege it. (625) ... So they departed, taking

7897-523: The Amorites that migrated to the Levant. Like Abraham and his descendants, the Amorites followed shepherding-based lifestyles. Nonetheless, the Biblical authors distanced themselves from the Amorites to assert their moral superiority. Another possible location for Ur of the Chaldees (Ur Kasdim) is the ancient Assyrian and Seleucid city Edessa , now called Şanlıurfa . According to some Jewish traditions, this

8046-556: The Armenian historian Matthew , who had been born at Edessa. In 1144 the city had an Armenian population of 47,000. In 1146, the city was briefly recaptured by the crusaders and lost after a few days. In the words of Steven Runciman , "the whole Christian population was driven into exile [and t]he great city, which claimed to be the oldest Christian commonwealth in the world, was left empty and desolate, and has never recovered to this day." The Ayyubid Sultanate 's leader Saladin acquired

8195-653: The Chaldees with the Sumerian city of Uruk , called Erech in the Bible and Warka in Arabic. Both scholars reject the equation. Talmud Yoma 10a identifies Erech with a place called "Urichus", and no tradition exists equating Ur Kaśdim with Urichus or Erech/Uruk. Some Jewish traditions identify Abraham's birthplace as somewhere in Upper Mesopotamia . This view was particularly noted by Nachmanides (Ramban). Nevertheless, this interpretation of moledet as meaning "birthplace"

8344-625: The Chaldees." In Genesis , the name is found in 11:28, 11:31 and 15:7. Although not explicitly stated in the Tanakh , it is generally understood to be the birthplace of Abraham (although some commentators like Nahmanides understand that Abraham was born in Haran, but later migrated to Ur). Genesis 11:27–28 names it as the death place of Abraham's brother Haran , and the point of departure of Terah 's household, including his son Abraham. In Genesis 12:1 , after Abraham and his father Terah have left Ur Kaśdim for

8493-562: The Christian youth of Persia, and closely watched by Rabbula , the friend of Cyril of Alexandria , on account of its Nestorian tendencies, reached its highest development under bishop Ibas , famous through the Three-Chapter Controversy , was temporarily closed in 457, and finally in 489, by command of Emperor Zeno and Bishop Cyrus, when the teachers and students of the School of Edessa repaired to Nisibis and became chief writers of

8642-593: The Mesopotamian moon god. In Hittite and Luwian sources the logographic writings 30 and EN.ZU were used to render the name of the Anatolian moon god Arma . As noted by Piotr Taracha  [ de ] , while 30 was also used to represent the name of the Hattian moon god Kašku in the corresponding version of the myth The Moon that Fell from Heaven , it is improbable that it designates him in cultic texts, as he

8791-692: The Roman province of Osroene . In Late Antiquity , it became a prominent center of Christian learning and seat of the Catechetical School of Edessa . During the Crusades , it was the capital of the County of Edessa . The city was situated on the banks of the Daysan River ( Ancient Greek : Σκίρτος ; Latin : Scirtus ; Turkish : Kara Koyun ), a tributary of the Khabur , and was defended by Şanlıurfa Castle ,

8940-463: The Roman state. The Late Antique Laterculus Veronensis names Edessa as the capital of the Roman province of Osroene . The Roman soldier and Latin historian Ammianus Marcellinus described the city's formidable fortifications and how in 359 it successfully resisted the attack of Shapur II ( r.  309–379 ). The city was a centre of Greek and Syriac theological and philosophical thought, hosting

9089-717: The Romans, the Armenians, the Seljuq dynasty (1087), an Armenian named Thoros who gained independence from the Turks (1094), and the Crusaders (1098), who established there the County of Edessa and kept the city until 1144, when it was again captured by Imad ad-Din Zengi , and most of its inhabitants were allegedly slaughtered together with the Latin archbishop. These events are known to us chiefly through

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9238-400: The Stylite , a shrine to some martyred saints was built outside the city walls in 346 or 347. A more elaborate version of the Abgar Legend is recorded in the early 5th-century Syriac Doctrine of Addai , purportedly based on the state archives of Edessa, and including both a pseudepigraphal letter from Abgar V to Tiberius ( r.  14–37 ) and the emperor's supposed reply. This text

9387-462: The association between these two goddesses and the moon god is unknown. While references to Ninegal as a daughter of Sin are known, in this context the name is treated as an epithet of Inanna , and there is no evidence Ninegal understood as a distinct goddess was associated with him in any way. Another deity associated with Ishtar who was sometimes described as daughter of Sin was the love goddess Nanaya . However, this tradition seems to stem from

9536-538: The case of Marduk and Ashur . Aino Hätinen points out that in Harran similar formulas were used to refer to Sin by Ashurbanipal , and are thus not unique to Nabonidus and do not necessarily indicate elevation of this god during his reign. She suggests both Nabonidus and Ashurbanipal relied on so-called "Theology of the Moon", a concept well attested in explanatory texts from the first millennium BCE according to which Sin possessed divine powers (Sumerian ĝarza , Akkadian parṣū ) equal to these of Anu, Enlil and Ea during

9685-555: The center of Şanlıurfa. The Halil-Ur Rahman Mosque lies in the vicinity of the cave. Gary A. Rendsburg points out that this location makes better sense of the Biblical references, especially that if Teraḥ and family left Ur-Kasdim to travel to Canaan, but stopped en route in Ḥarran, then the location of Ur-Kasdim should be to the north of Ḥarran. In addition, Abraham's grandfather Nahor and great-grandfather Serug share names with cities located near Ḥarran in northern Mesopotamia ("Til-Nahiri" and Suruç ), suggesting that Abraham's clan

9834-449: The city may have been derived from the Persian name Khosrow . It was re-named Justinopolis during the Byzantine period in the early 6th century. According to some Jewish and Muslim traditions, it is the location of Ur of the Chaldees , the birthplace of Abraham . Edessa was situated on a ridge in the middle of a ring of hills surrounded by a fertile plain, and was therefore considered to be favourably situated. The ridge in turn

9983-432: The city of Haran (probably Harran ), and God instructs Abraham to leave his native land (Hebrew moledet ). The traditional Jewish understanding of the word moledet is "birthplace" (e.g. in the Judaica Press translation ). Similarly, in Genesis 24:4–10, Abraham instructs his servant to bring a wife for Isaac from his moledet , and the servant departs for Haran. The Septuagint translation of Genesis does not include

10132-510: The city reverted to Edessa, in Greek, and also appears in Armenian as Urha or Ourha ( Ուռհա ), in Aramaic ( Syriac ) as Urhay or Orhay ( Classical Syriac : ܐܘܪܗܝ , romanized:  ʾŪrhāy / ʾŌrhāy ), in local Neo-Aramaic ( Turoyo ) as Urhoy , in Arabic as ar-Ruhā ( الرُّهَا ), in the Kurdish languages as Riha , Latinized as Rohais , and finally adopted into Turkish as Urfa or Şanlıurfa ("Glorious Urfa"), its present name. This originally Aramaic and Syriac name for

10281-478: The city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed. In 232 the relics of the apostle Thomas were brought from Mylapore , India , on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written. Under Roman domination many martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sharbel and Barsamya , under Decius ; Sts. Gûrja, Shâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian . In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa had evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, and established

10430-423: The close connection between Nanaya and Inanna, as for example the Hymn to the City of Arbela in a passage focused on Ishtar of Arbela refers to Nanaya as a daughter of Sin, but also syncretises her with the goddess being praised. Sources where Nanaya's father is instead either Anu or Urash (the male tutelary god of Dilbat , rather than the earth goddess of the same name) are known too. Only in Assyria in

10579-426: The coastal city via a Hurrian intermediary, and it is possible that the myth describing their marriage was based on a Mesopotamian or Hurrian original, focused on either Sin or Kušuḫ. However, Steve A. Wiggins states that despite the connection between Sin and Yarikh the latter shows a number of traits distinct from his counterpart, for example literary texts at times compare him to a dog, an animal not associated with

10728-409: The counterpart of Sin was Ši-ḪU (reading of the second sign uncertain), well attested as an element of theophoric names , though he was more commonly equated with Marduk in similar sources. Sin was recognized as a major deity all across ancient Mesopotamia. His status was already high in the earliest periods to which the history of the Mesopotamian pantheon can be traced. It is presumed that Sin

10877-497: The cows abundant". He could be addressed as a herdsman in astral context, with stars being poetically described as his herd. In addition to cows, he could also be associated with sheep and with wild animals inhabiting steppes, especially ibexes and gazelles. Sin was perceived as a benign deity who could be petitioned for help. He was responsible for guaranteeing abundance and growth, especially in Ur and Harran , which most likely reflects

11026-440: The crescent either placed on his tiara or atop a standard he held. It was also used to represent him on kudurru , decorated boundary stones. It consistently occurs in the upper section of such objects, next to symbols of Shamash and Ishtar , though their exact arrangement can vary. A survey of 110 stones or their fragments indicated that this trio of deities is depicted on all known kudurru . Aniconic portrayals of Sin as

11175-513: The day of the disappearance of the moon (Sumerian u 4 -ná , Akkadian ūm bubbuli ). However, Dina Katz argues that in contrast with the frequent assignment of a similar role to Shamash , Sin was usually not associated with judgment of either the living or the dead. References to both of them acting as judges are nonetheless known from Old Babylonian inscriptions. In Mesopotamian medicine skin diseases , especially leprosy ( saḫaršubbû ), as well as epileptic symptoms, could be interpreted as

11324-422: The demon Bennu, responsible for causing epilepsy , is described as his "deputy" ( šanê ) as well. In An = Anum Suzianna and Ninimma , both usually regarded as courtiers of Enlil, are also identified as Sin's nurses. The Hurrian moon god, variously known as Kušuḫ , Umbu or Ušu, was identified with Sin and his name was sometimes written logographically as EN.ZU or 30. It is possible that his character

11473-504: The divine representation of the full moon, with texts instead describing him as a youthful god instead reflecting his role as the new moon. Another epithet commonly applied to him was lugal ("king"). Presumably it constituted an implicit reference to his status as the tutelary god of Ur. In the first millennium BCE, as the god of Harran he could be called Bēl-Ḫarrān ( EN.KASKAL), "lord of Harran". This title appears particularly commonly in theophoric names . Sin could also function as

11622-405: The early 380s AD, mentions Hur lying five stations from Nisibis on the way to Persia, apparently the same location, and she does identify it with Ur Kaśdim. However, the castle in question was only founded during the time of the second Persian Empire (224–651). Since Upper Mesopotamia included northern Syria, which was inhabited by groups like the Amorites, some even consider Abraham to be among

11771-625: The end of the Diocletianic Persecution and the 313 Letter of Licinius , which ended the general persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. The cathedral church was dedicated to the Holy Wisdom . Around 23 different monasteries and churches are known to have existed in the city, with at least as many again just outside town; these attracted many pilgrims. Eusebius of Caesarea even claimed in his Church History that "the whole city"

11920-735: The famed School of Edessa . Edessa remained in Roman hands until its capture by the Persians during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 , an event recorded by the Greek Chronicon Paschale as occurring in 609. Roman control was restored by the 627 and 628 victories of Heraclius ( r.  610–641 ) in the Byzantine–Sasanian War, but the city was lost by the Romans again in 638, to the Rashidun Caliphate during

12069-420: The first sibilant was difficult to render in cuneiform. In early Akkadian, the sound /s/ was an affricate [ts], which would explain its initial representation with Z-signs and later with S-signs. A variant form of Sin's name, Suinu, is also attested in texts from Ebla . It has been pointed out that an Eblaite lexical list with the entry sú-i-nu is the oldest available attestation of a phonetic spelling of

12218-499: The first Churches in the Sasanian Empire. Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the First Council of Nicaea (325). The Peregrinatio Silviae (or Etheriae) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388. As metropolis of Osroene, Edessa had eleven suffragan sees . Michel Le Quien mentions thirty-five bishops of Edessa, but his list is incomplete. The Eastern Orthodox episcopate seems to have disappeared after

12367-425: The first half of the lunar month. Despite Sin's popularity documented in textual sources, depictions of him are not common in Mesopotamian art . His most common attribute was the crescent . In accordance with the appearance of the new moon in the latitude of Mesopotamia, it was consistently represented as recumbent. It was frequently compared to bull horns and to a barge. On seals, Sin could be depicted with

12516-525: The goddesses Amarazu and Amaraḫea, known from the god list An = Anum , Ningublaga (the city god of Kiabrig) and Numushda (the city god of Kazallu ). Ningublaga's connection with the moon god is well attested in god lists ( An = Anum , the Weidner god list , the Nippur god list) and other sources, one example being the formula "servant of Sin and Ningublaga," known from an Old Babylonian cylinder seal . While he

12665-401: The heavens and earth" ( nannār šamê u erṣeti ) or "the luminary of all creation" ( nannār kullati binīti ). The growth of the moon over the course of the month was reflected in comparing Sin to the growth of fruit (Akkadian inbu , Sumerian gurun ) as attested in Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian sources, especially hemerologies . However, it was not applied consistently as a designation for

12814-415: The high central citadel. Ancient Edessa is the predecessor of modern Urfa ( Turkish : Şanlıurfa ; Kurdish : Riha ; Arabic : الرُّهَا , romanized :  ar-Ruhā ; Armenian : Ուռհա , romanized :  Urha ), in Şanlıurfa Province , Turkey . Modern names of the city are likely derived from Urhay or Orhay ( Classical Syriac : ܐܘܪܗܝ , romanized:  ʾŪrhāy / ʾŌrhāy ),

12963-516: The husband of Nanshe in the state of Lagash in the Early Dynastic period . In An = Anum itself he and Sin are directly identified with each other (tablet III, line 65), and the lines following this statement list Nanshe and their children. However, there is no evidence that this equation was responsible for the lack of references to Nindara in the Sealand archives, as Nanshe was not worshiped in association with Sin in this context. Nin-MAR.KI , who

13112-458: The incantation Cow of Sîn , which states that he would send a pair of lamassu goddesses to help mothers with difficult births. The common epithet of Sin, "father" ( a-a ), underlined his ability to cause growth and bring abundance. However, it also reflected his role as a senior member of his pantheon, as well as his authority over deities regarded as his children or servants. It has also been suggested that it metaphorically referred to him as

13261-482: The inscription of the Letter of Jesus 's text on the city gates of Edessa, which he stated made the defences impregnable. An unsuccessful Sasanian siege occurred in 544. The city was taken in 609 by the Sasanian Empire, and retaken by Heraclius , but lost to the Muslim army under the Rashidun Caliphate during the Muslim conquest of the Levant in 638. The precise date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa

13410-471: The invention of cuneiform . Sometimes the double name Nanna-Suen was used, as evidenced for example by a short theological text from the Ur III period listing the main deities of the official pantheon . It is sometimes used to refer to this god in modern Assyriological publications too. The precise etymology of the name Nanna is unknown, though it is agreed that it is not a genitive construction . It

13559-570: The king's fire was reduced by God, saving the life of Ibrahim. While the Quran does not mention the king's name, Muslim commentators have assigned Nimrod as the king based on hadiths . Eusebius in his Preparation for the Gospel preserves a fragment of the work Concerning the Jews by the 1st century BC historian Alexander Polyhistor , which in turn quotes a passage in Concerning the Jews of Assyria by

13708-416: The latter two gods were commonly regarded as sons of different parents instead. Enbilulu in particular is not attested as a son of Enlil and Ninlil in any other sources. Based on their shared status as sons of Enlil Sin and Nergal were sometimes referred to as the "big twins", and in this context were identified with Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea . The connection between Lugal-Irra and Sin seemingly depended on

13857-495: The latter's occasional role as a judge in the underworld . An astronomical text equates the pair Sin and Nergal with Latarak and Lulal , but this attestation is unparalleled in other sources. Sin's wife was Ningal . They are already attested as a couple in Early Dynastic sources, and they were consistently paired with each other in all regions of Mesopotamia. Derivatives of Ningal were associated with local moon gods in

14006-515: The local sun god . From the Old Babylonian period onward Sin's name could be represented by the logogram 30 ( 𒀭𒌍 ), derived from the cuneiform numeral 30, symbolically associated with him due to the number of days in the lunar month. It was originally assumed that an even earlier example occurs in the writing of a personal name from the Ur III period, but subsequent research demonstrated that this

14155-406: The logogram EN.ZU designated Saggar in this city, but according to Alfonso Archi this is unlikely. Lunar character is sometimes also proposed for a further Eblaite deity, Hadabal ( NI- da -KUL), though Archi similarly disagrees with this view. However, he does accept the possibility that the theophoric name of a king of Ibubu mentioned in an Eblaite text, Li-im - EN.ZU, a different deity than Sin

14304-623: The lunar crescent also predominate in Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian art. Furthermore, the logogram U 4 .SAKAR ( 𒀭𒌓𒊬 ) which could be used to write his name was derived from a term referring to the crescent. Like other Mesopotamian gods Sin was depicted as a mature, bearded man dressed in a flounced robe. In some cases he holds a mace or a stick, with the latter occurring particularly often, though these attributes were not exclusively associated with him and cannot be used to identify depictions of him. A further object associated with him in art

14453-403: The lunar cult in Ur was the institution of the en priestess. In Akkadian its holders were referred to as entum . Their residence was known as Gipar, and while initially separate in the Old Babylonian period it was combined into a single complex with the temple of the moon god's wife, Ningal. Not much is known about the duties of the en in the sphere of cult, though they apparently played

14602-452: The major members of the pantheon, next to Enlil , Ninlil , Inanna , Enki , Nergal , Ninurta , Nuska , Ninshubur and the deified hero Gilgamesh , included in the enumeration due to importance due to his importance for the ruling house. Ibbi-Sin at one point dedicated the image of a "red dog of Meluhha " to Sin. According to the document describing this offering, the animal bore the evocative name "He bites!" An important aspect of

14751-454: The meaning of Dilimbabbar are correct, and that the scribes might have intentionally created puns depending on the well attested tradition of referring to the moon as a unique or solitary celestial body. Dilimbabbar is already attested in the Early Dynastic god list from Abu Salabikh. The Zame Hymns from the same period link this title with the worship of the moon god in Urum ( Tell Uqair ). It

14900-505: The moon and his children, who could be identified as twins - the sun and Venus . Numerous instances of Inanna being directly referred to as his oldest daughter are known. While alternate traditions about her parentage are attested, it is agreed they were less significant and ultimately she was most commonly recognized as a daughter of Sin and Ningal. It has been pointed out that apparent references to Anu being her father instead might only designate him as an ancestor. Similarly to how Sin

15049-460: The moon and to month as a measure of time in multiple Semitic languages , including both Amorite and Ugaritic. While neither the names Nanna nor Sin share such a linguistic affinity, the respective Sumerian ( itud ) and Akkadian ( warḫum ) words for moon and month are likewise the same. As noted by Nick Wyatt, Nikkal , the counterpart of Ningal regarded as the wife of Yarikh in Ugarit , likely reached

15198-445: The moon god, but also Ishtar and Girra . It is uncertain if the theonym Nanum attested in a theophoric name from Umma is a derivative of Nanna, while Nanni worshiped in Mari and in the kingdom of Khana was a female deity and might be related to Nanaya rather than the moon god. In Akkadian the moon god was called Sin (Sîn) or Suen (Su’en). The former is the standard reading of

15347-415: The moon god. Piotr Steinkeller suggests that the latter might have been considered a representation of the half moon . Ningal , the wife of Sin, could be depicted alongside him for example in banquet scenes. On the stele of Ur-Nammu she sits in his lap. This type of depictions was meant to display the intimate nature of a connection between the deities and highlight their ability to act in unison, and

15496-425: The name from the Old Babylonian period onward, while the latter was presumably the older uncontracted pronunciation. The etymology of this name remains uncertain. One of the inscriptions of Gudea from the third millennium BCE refers to Sin as a god "whose name nobody can explain", which might be an indication that his name was already unclear and a subject of scribal speculation during his reign. The name Sin

15645-636: The name. However, the logogram EN.ZU was also used in this city. Additionally, in a translation of an Akkadian text written in the Ugaritic alphabetic script the name is rendered as sn ( KTU 1.70, line 4), while in Aramaic the variants sn , syn and šn are attested. In the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible Sin's name is rendered as san in the theophoric names Sennacherib (Sîn-aḫḫe-erība) and Sanballat (Sîn-uballiṭ). Alfonso Archi argues that

15794-498: The only holder of this office from the Second Dynasty of Lagash ; Ennirgalana  [ pl ] , daughter of Ur-Nammu of Ur; Ennirzianna  [ hu ] , a contemporary and possibly daughter of Shulgi ; her successors Enuburzianna and Enmahgalana, the former also selected during the reign of Shulgi and the latter shortly after by Amar-Sin ; Enannatumma  [ pl ] , daughter of Ishme-Dagan of Isin who retained her position after his death and conquest of

15943-404: The period of the Neo-Assyrian governor Sîn-balāssu-iqbi 's reign. The moon god was in this case seemingly reinterpreted as a "local Enlil”, acting as the king of the gods in Ur. It has been argued that the view that Sin was the supreme god was later particularly enthusiastically supported by the last Neo-Babylonian ruler, Nabonidus . In one of his inscriptions from Harran Sin is described as

16092-619: The reign of Meli-Shipak II , and indicates it might have been particularly popular in Harran . An Old Babylonian literary composition written in Sumerian describes Sin as the head of the divine assembly (Ubšu’ ukkin ),with Anu, Enlil, Inanna , Utu, Enki and Ninhursag serving as his advisers. Two of his titles known from the god list An = Anum , Ukkin ("the assembly") and Ukkin-uru ("mighty assembly"), might reflect this portrayal. Some Old Babylonian theophoric names might also be connected to

16241-602: The repair of her temple in Sippar . Due to identification with Inanna, the Hurrian and Elamite goddess Pinikir is referred to as a daughter of Sin and Ningal in a text written in Akkadian but found in a corpus of Hurro-Hittite rituals. In a single Maqlû incantation, Manzat , the goddess of the rainbow, appears as the sister of Shamash, and by extension as daughter of his parents, Sin and Ningal. A tradition according to which Ninazu

16390-465: The road through the desert to Tachkastan to the sons of Ishmael. [The Jews] called [the Arabs] to their aid and familiarized them with the relationship they had through the books of the [Old] Testament. Although [the Arabs] were convinced of their close relationship, they were unable to get a consensus from their multitude, for they were divided from each other by religion. In that period a certain one of them,

16539-485: The rulers of Ur) until the late 7th century BC, and held power only until the mid 6th century BC. The name is found in Genesis 11:28 , Genesis 11:31 , and Genesis 15:7 . In Nehemiah 9:7 , a single passage mentioning Ur is a paraphrase of Genesis. Edessa Edessa ( / ə ˈ d ɛ s ə / ; Ancient Greek : Ἔδεσσα , romanized :  Édessa ) was an ancient city ( polis ) in Upper Mesopotamia , in what

16688-627: The site's Syriac name before the re-foundation of the settlement by Seleucus I Nicator . After the defeat of the Seleucids in the Seleucid–Parthian Wars , Edessa became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene, with a mixed Syriac and Hellenistic culture. The origin of the name of Osroene itself is probably related to Orhay. The Roman Republic began exercising political influence over the Kingdom of Osroene and its capital Edessa from 69 BC. It became

16837-560: The son of Kêsêd, built the city of ’Arâ of the Chaldees, and called its name after his own name and the name of his father." (Jubilees 11:3). In the New Testament , Saint Stephen refers to it as the "land of the Chaldeans" when he retells the story of Abraham in Acts 7 ( Acts 7:4 ). According to Islamic texts, Abraham ( Ibrahim in Arabic) was thrown into the fire. In the story, the temperature of

16986-451: The sons of Abraham, and God shall fulfill the promise made to Abraham and his son on you. Only love the God of Abraham, and go and take the country which God gave to your father, Abraham. No one can successfully resist you in war, since God is with you. Muslim tradition tells of a similar account, known as the second pledge at al-Aqabah . Sebeos' account suggests that Muhammad was actually leading

17135-624: The success of the First Crusade , was centred on the city, the crusaders having seized the city from the Seljuks . The county survived until the 1144 Siege of Edessa , in which Imad al-Din Zengi , founder of the Zengid dynasty , captured the city and, according to Matthew of Edessa , killed many of the Edessenes. The Turkic Zengid dynasty 's lands were eventually absorbed by the Ottoman Empire in 1517 after

17284-418: The term "Ur"; instead it describes the "Land of the Chaldees" (Greek χώρα Χαλδαίων, Chora Chaldaion ). Some scholars have held that biblical Ur was not a city at all, but simply a word for land. The Book of Jubilees states that Ur was founded in 1688 Anno Mundi (year of the world) by 'Ur son of Kesed, presumably the offspring of Arphachshad , adding that in this same year wars began on Earth. "And ’Ûr,

17433-602: The town from the Zengids in 1182. During Ayyubid rule, Edessa had a population of approximately 24,000. The Sultanate of Rûm took Edessa in June 1234, but sometime in late 1234 or 1235, the Ayyubid sultan Al-Kamil re-acquired it. After Edessa had been recaptured, Al-Kamil ordered the destruction of its Citadel. Not long after, the Mongols had made their presence known in Edessa in 1244. Later,

17582-521: The view that Abraham's ancestors may have been moon-worshippers, an idea based on the possibility that the name of Abraham's father Terah is related to the Hebrew root for moon ( y-r-h ). Woolley's identification has become the mainstream scholarly opinion on the location of Biblical Ur Kasdim, in line with some earlier traditions that placed Ur Kasdim in Southern Mesopotamia. Woolley's identification

17731-406: The view that Sin was the head of the pantheon, namely Sîn-bēl-ili ("Sin is the lord of the gods"), Sîn-šar-ili ("Sin is the king of the gods") or Sîn-il-ili ("Sin is god of the gods"). Lambert notes that while similar names invoking other gods, for example Shamash and Adad , are also known, Sîn-bēl-ili is ultimately the most common. Examples of texts elevating Sin's rank are known from Ur from

17880-412: The well attested phenomenon of locally assigning such a role to tutelary deities of specific areas. It was also believed that he could provide people with offspring, as evidenced by prayer in which he is asked for that by childless worshipers, both men and women. He was also believed to aid pregnant women, both during the beginning of pregnancy and in labour. This aspect of his character is highlighted in

18029-471: Was Aramaic , from which Syriac developed. Traces of Hellenistic culture were soon overwhelmed in Edessa, which employed Syriac legends on coinage, with the exception of the client king Abgar IX (179–214), and there is a corresponding lack of Greek public inscriptions. According to the Chronicle of Edessa , a Syriac chronicle written after 540, the cathedral church of Edessa was founded immediately after

18178-409: Was Ur . He was already associated with this city in the Early Dynastic period , and was recognized as its tutelary deity and divine ruler. His temple located there was known under the ceremonial name Ekišnugal, and through its history it was rebuilt by multiple Mesopotamian rulers. Ur was also the residence of the en priestesses of Nanna, the most famous of whom was Enheduanna . Furthermore, from

18327-503: Was "devoted to the name of Christ" in the early 4th century; in fact the city had at least some pagan inhabitants into the early 5th century, as well as Jewish ones. Eusebius also claimed to quote the Letter of Abgar to Jesus and the Letter of Jesus to Abgar in the state archives of Edessa, foundational texts of the Abgar Legend . Egeria , a high-status Roman lady and author, visited Edessa in 384 on her way to Jerusalem ; she saw

18476-490: Was Ekišnugal, "house of the great light". Sanctuaries bearing this name also existed in other cities, which is presumed to reflect Ur's central importance in the sphere of religion. The first certain attestation of this ceremonial name has been dated to the reign of Utu-hegal , though it is possible it was already used in the times of Eannatum . Through history, it was rebuilt or patronized by multiple rulers, including Naram-Sin of Akkad , Ur-Nammu of Ur, various rulers from

18625-594: Was a deity of little relevance in Hattian and Hittite religion . In Emar , 30 might have been used as a logogram to represent the name of the local god Saggar , who in addition to fulfilling a lunar role was also the divine personification of the Sinjar Mountains . Both he and Sin (Suinu) were worshiped in Ebla in the third millennium BCE, possibly with each representing a different lunar phase . It has been suggested that

18774-481: Was a son of Sin is also known. Frans Wiggermann proposes that the occasional association between these two gods might have reflected the dependence of Enegi , Ninazu's cult center, on nearby Ur. In the first millennium BCE a tradition according to which Nuska was a son of Sin developed in Harran. Manfred Krebernik  [ de ] suggests that it might have reflected Aramaic influence and that it resulted from

18923-408: Was a son of the moon god is absent from sources from the third millennium BCE. Additionally, a single literary text calls Numushda a son of Enki , rather than Sin and Ningal. Amarazu and Amaraḫea are overall sparsely attested, and despite their status as Sin's daughters in god lists and the incantation series Udug Hul there is no evidence they were worshiped alongside him in Ur. The reason behind

19072-439: Was a tripod, possibly a candelabrum, sometimes with a lunar crescent on top and with an unidentified sandal-like object hanging from it. In some cases, Sin could be portrayed rising from between two mountains, similarly to Shamash, and Dominique Collon has suggests that in some cases reassessment of works of art often presumed to represent the latter in this situation might be necessary due to this similarity. Depictions of Sin in

19221-563: Was actively worshiped in most of the major cities of the region, with remains of multiple temples dedicated to him identified during excavations both in Babylonia and in Assyria . Ur was already well established as the cult center of the moon god, initially under his Sumerian name Nanna, in Early Dynastic times, as attested in the Zame Hymns from Abu Salabikh . His primary temple this city

19370-422: Was also viewed as a son of the moon god. However, no direct evidence supporting this notion has been identified, and therefore whether he was ever regarded as a child of Sin remains impossible to ascertain. Alammuš also possessed his own attendant, Urugal. In the Old Babylonian forerunner of An = Anum , Nindara is listed among the deities belonging to the entourage of Sin. This god was originally worshiped as

19519-619: Was an extension of Mount Masius , part of the Taurus Mountains of southern Asia Minor . The city was located at a crossroads; the east–west highway from Zeugma on the Euphrates to the Tigris , and the north–south route from Samosata (modern-day Samsat ) to the Euphrates via Carrhae (modern-day Harran) met at the ridge where Edessa was located. In the second half of the second century BC, as

19668-586: Was at first more or less under the protectorate of the Parthians , then of Tigranes of Armenia , Edessa was Armenian Mesopotamia 's capital city, then from the time of Pompey under the Roman Empire . Following its capture and sack by Trajan , the Romans even occupied Edessa from 116 to 118, although its sympathies towards the Parthians led to Lucius Verus pillaging the city later in the 2nd century. Christianity

19817-662: Was certainly at Edessa in 544, and of which there is an ancient copy in the Vatican Library , was looted and brought to the West by the Republic of Venice in 1207 following the Fourth Crusade . The city was ruled shortly thereafter by Marwanids . In 1031 Edessa was given up to the Byzantines under George Maniakes by its Arab governor. It was retaken by the Arabs, and then successively held by

19966-452: Was challenged with the discovery of the city of Harran in northern Mesopotamia , near the present-day village of Altınbaşak in modern Turkey (archaeological excavations at Harran began in the 1950s). Recent archaeological work focuses on the area of Nasiriyah (in southern Iraq), where the remains of the ancient Ziggurat of Ur stand. According to T.G. Pinches and A.T. Clay , some Talmudic and medieval Arabic writers identified Ur of

20115-429: Was compiled about 172 and in common use until Rabbula , Bishop of Edessa (412–435), forbade its use. Among the illustrious disciples of the School of Edessa, Bardaisan (154–222), a schoolfellow of Abgar IX, deserves special mention for his role in creating Christian religious poetry, and whose teaching was continued by his son Harmonius and his disciples. A Christian council was held at Edessa as early as 197. In 201

20264-561: Was considered another of his major cult centers, as well as in Urum , Babylon , Uruk , Nippur and Assur . The extent to which beliefs pertaining to him influenced the Sabians , a religious community who lived in Harran after the Muslim conquest of the Levant , is disputed. While it is agreed that the two primary names of the Mesopotamian moon god , Nanna and Sin (Suen), originated in two different languages, respectively Sumerian and Akkadian , it

20413-436: Was constructed during the reign of Ur-Nammu. It bore the name Elugalgalgasisa, "house of the king who lets counsel flourish". Kings from the Third Dynasty of Ur believed themselves to be appointed to their position by Sin. His cult flourished during their reigns, as evidenced both by structures uncensored during excavations and by the numerous dedicatory inscriptions. An inscription from this period refers to him as one of

20562-768: Was estimated at a mere 5,500; likely due to the Ottoman–Persian Wars . By 1566, though, the population had risen to an estimated 14,000 citizens. In 1890, the population of Edessa consisted of 55,000, of which the Muslim population made up 40,835. The oldest known dated Syriac manuscripts (AD 411 and 462), containing Greek patristic texts, come from Edessa. Following are some of the famous individuals connected with Edessa: 37°09′N 38°48′E  /  37.150°N 38.800°E  / 37.150; 38.800 Sin (mythology) Sin ( / ˈ s iː n / ) or Suen ( Akkadian : 𒀭𒂗𒍪 , EN.ZU ) also known as Nanna ( Sumerian : 𒀭𒋀𒆠 ŠEŠ.KI, NANNA )

20711-444: Was influenced by exposure to Mesopotamian culture and the image of the moon god in it in particular. Equivalence between Sin and Yarikh is documented in an Akkadian - Amorite bilingual lexical list presumed to originate in lower Mesopotamia and dated to the Old Babylonian period . The two of them are also equated in an Ugaritic god list. The name of Yarikh (Yariḫ) and its variants are cognate with terms referring both to

20860-513: Was meant. The logogram 30 was also used to render the name of the Elamite moon deity, possibly to be identified with Napir , though Manfred Krebernik  [ de ] notes that in one case the name Nannar appears to be attested in Elamite contex, specifically in an inscription of Shilhak-Inshushinak . A bilingual Akkadian- Kassite lexical list indicates that the Kassite deity regarded as

21009-564: Was not always explicitly identified as his son, with such references lacking for example from An = Anum , direct statements confirming the existence of such a tradition have been identified in an inscription of Abisare of Larsa and in a hymn dedicated to Ningublaga's temple in Kiabrig. Designating Numushda as a son of Sin was likely meant to be a way to assimilate him into the pantheon of lower Mesopotamia , and might be based on perceived similarity to Ningublaga. The tradition according to which he

21158-466: Was often assumed that the variant form Nannar was the standard form of the name, but further research demonstrated that it does not predate the Old Babylonian period . The writing na-an-na-ar is attested in Akkadian and Elamite texts, and was the result of linguistic contamination between the theonym Nanna and the common Akkadian noun nannaru , "light". As an epithet, nannaru could be used to address

21307-471: Was originally established based on the now abandoned reading of the name, but it is still considered a valid translation. An alternate proposal relying on homophony of the element dilim and the logogram dilim 2 (LIŠ) is to explain Dilimbabbar as "the shining bowl". The term dilim 2 was a loan from Akkadian tilimtu , "bowl". Piotr Steinkeller notes that it is not impossible both proposals regarding

21456-473: Was referred as the "great boat of heaven" ( má-gul-la-an-na ), his son was the "small boat of heaven" ( má-bàn-da-an-na ), which reflected his subordinate status. These titles additionally reflected the Mesopotamian belief that the moon was larger than the sun. As an extension of her marriage to the sun god, the dawn goddess Aya was regarded as a daughter-in-law of Sin, as reflected by her common epithet kallatum . Further attested children of Sin include

21605-482: Was regarded as Sin's wife. Their best attested children are Inanna (Ishtar) and Utu (Shamash), though other deities, for example Ningublaga or Numushda , could be regarded as members of their family too. Sin was also believed to have an attendant deity ( sukkal ), Alammuš , and various courtiers, such as Nineigara , Ninurima and Nimintabba . He was also associated with other lunar gods, such as Hurrian Kušuḫ or Ugaritic Yarikh . The main cult center of Sin

21754-411: Was the result of erroneous collation . In the first millennium BCE 30 became the most common writing. For example, in the text corpus from Neo-Babylonian Uruk only a single text, a kudurru inscription of Ibni-Ishtar, uses EN.ZU instead of 30. Uncommonly NANNA was used in Akkadian texts as a sumerogram meant to be read as Sin. Next to Sin and Nanna, the best attested name of the moon god

21903-553: Was traditionally regarded as Nanshe's daughter, is also placed in the section of An = Anum dedicated to Sin, though according to Walther Sallaberger her presence there might reflect her well attested association with cattle, which she shared with the moon god. Further members of his entourage include deities such as Nineigara , referred to his "lady of the treasury" ( nin-èrim , Akkadian bēlet išitti ) and "obedient housekeeper"( munus-agrig šu-dim 4 -ma , Akkadian abarakkatu saniqtu ), Nimintabba , and Ninurima . In medical texts,

22052-637: Was typically written in cuneiform as EN.ZU, as possibly already attested in a text from the Uruk period, though oldest certain examples, such as entries in the god lists from Fara and Abu Salabikh , only date back to the Early Dynastic period. Most likely it initially developed as a rebus meant to graphically resemble the names of gods whose names had Sumerian etymologies and contained the element EN , for example Enlil . Various phonetic spellings are also attested, for example sú-en , sí-in , si-in and se-en . The large variety of these variants might indicate that

22201-489: Was well established in this area in the period before the migration from Ur-Kasdim. According to A. S. Issar, Ur Kasdim is identified with the site of Urkesh – the capital of the Hurrian Kingdom, now in northeastern Syria. It is further hypothesized that the Biblical travel of Abraham's kin from Urkesh to Harran in order to reach Canaan is much more reasonable than a travel from the Sumerian city of Ur. The biblical Ur

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