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A member of the dynasty ruling in Isin, En-anna-tuma, earlier even than Nur-Rammân, invokes Nin-gal in an inscription found in the ancient capital, Ur. Here, too, the goddess appears in association with Nannar; but, curiously enough, she is designated as the mother of Shamash. It will be borne in mind that in the city of Ur, the sun-god occupied a secondary place at the side of the moon-god.
Father Nannar, lord of increase, chief of the gods, Father Nannar, heavenly lord, Father Nannar, moon-god, chief of the gods, Father Nannar, lord of Ur, chief of the gods, Father Nannar, lord of E-gish-shir-gal, chief of the gods, Father Nannar, lord of the brilliant crescent, chief of the gods, Father Nannar, whose sovereignty is brought to perfection, chief of the gods, Father Nannar, who passes along in great majesty, O strong Bull, great of horns, perfect in form, with long flowing beard of the color of lapus-lazuli.
For all that, he bears a name which signifies 'attendant' or 'servitor, and which sufficiently shows the subsidiary position that he occupied in the Babylonian pantheon. One of the rulers belonging to the dynasty of Isin calls the sun-god, the offspring of Nannar, one of the names of the moon-god, and the last king of Babylonia, Nabonnedos, does the same.
This conclusion is supported by the direct association of Nannar of Ur and Ningal in an inscription emanating from an earlier member of the same dynasty to which Rim-Sin belongs. Nur-Rammân speaks of building temples to these deities in the city of Ur. Hence the goddess is also represented as interceding with Sin on behalf of those who appeal to her.
The similarity in meaning is in keeping with the similarity of function of the two deities, thus named: Babbar being the sun and Nannar, the moon. It was under the name of Nannar that the moon-god was worshipped at Ur, the most famous and probably the oldest of the cities over which the moon-god presided.
The association of Nannar with Ur is parallel to that of Shamash with Sippar, not that the moon-god's jurisdiction or worship was confined to that place, but that the worship of the deity of that place eclipsed others, and the fame and importance at Ur led to the overshadowing of the moon-worship there, over the obeisance to him paid elsewhere.
So close, again, was the identification of the city with the deity, that the latter was frequently known simply as the god of Ur, and the former, as the city of Nannar. Another name of the moon-god was Sin, the meaning of which escapes us.
Her name as interpreted in the tablet dedicated to her, signifies again, as in several cases already noted, 'great lady. She was probably therefore only the consort of some patron deity; and Nannar being the most prominent god invoked by Rim-Sin, it would seem that the goddess to whom the queen pays her respects is again one of the consorts of the moon-god.
The situation of Harran the name itself signifies 'road' as the highway leading to the west, must have been an important factor, in bringing this about. However this may be, Sin and Nannar are as thoroughly identical in the period following Hammurabi, as Babbar and Shamash. The attributes of the one are transferred to the other so completely, that a separation of the two is no longer possible.
Ur-Gur of the second dynasty of Ur, in invoking Nannar, calls the latter 'the powerful bull of Anu. The reference is interesting, for it shows that already in these early days the position of Anu, as the god of the heavenly expanse, was fixed.
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