TYPE: Moon god
ORIGIN: Mesopotamian (Sumerian)
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: Circa 3500 BCE until Circa 1750 BCE.
SYNONYMS: As-im-babbar (New light), Suen or Sin (Crescent moon) (Akkadian)
CENTER(S) OF CULT: Ur.
ART REFERENCES: glyptics etc.
LITERARY SOURCES: Creation epics including Enki and the World Order and other texts.
INFORMATION: A major astral deity in the Sumerian pantheon, probably originating in very early preagricultural times, Nanna is the tutelary god of UR. He is the firstborn son of Enlil. His wife is Ningal and he is the father of the gods Utu and Iskur and of the goddess Inana. During the Third Dynasty of Ur, the New Year akitu festival was performed in his honor. He was considered to light up the night, to measure time and to provide fertility. He is depicted as traveling in a carriage across the sky bringing light to the darkness.