Editing Sin (mythology) (section)

===Dilimbabbar===
Next to Sin and Nanna, the best attested name of the moon god is <sup>d</sup>AŠ''-im<sub>4</sub>-babbar'' ({{cuneiform|𒀭𒀸𒁽𒌓}}).{{sfn|Krebernik|1997|p=362}} It was originally assumed that it should be read as Ašimbabbar, though it was subsequently proved that this depended on an erroneous collation.{{sfn|Alster|2004|p=1}} By 2016 the consensus view that Dilimbabbar is the correct reading was established based on the discovery of multiple passages providing phonetic syllabic spellings.{{sfn|Steinkeller|2016|p=615}} The name can be translated as "the shining one who walks alone".{{sfn|Krebernik|1997|p=363}} This meaning was originally established based on the now abandoned reading of the name, but it is still considered a valid translation.{{sfn|Steinkeller|2016|p=615}} An alternate proposal relying on homophony of the element ''dilim'' and the logogram ''dilim<sub>2</sub>'' (LIŠ) is to explain Dilimbabbar as "the shining bowl".{{sfn|Steinkeller|2016|p=616}} The term ''dilim<sub>2</sub>'' was a loan from Akkadian ''tilimtu'', "bowl".{{sfn|Steinkeller|2016|p=618}} Piotr Steinkeller notes that it is not impossible both proposals regarding 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.{{sfn|Steinkeller|2016|pp=621-622}}

Dilimbabbar is already attested in the Early Dynastic god list from Abu Salabikh.{{sfn|Krebernik|1997|p=362}} The ''[[Zame Hymns]]'' from the same period link this title with the worship of the moon god in Urum ([[Tell Uqair]]).{{sfn|Krebernik|1997|p=368}} It 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.{{sfn|Hall|1985|p=42}} 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.{{sfn|Hall|1985|p=53}} However, Manfred Krebernik and Jan Lisman point out that in 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.{{sfn|Krebernik|Lisman|2020|p=103}}

For unknown reasons the name Dilimbabbar is absent from all the other known Early Dynastic sources, as well as these from the subsequent [[Akkadian Empire|Sargonic]] and [[Ur III]] periods, with the next oldest attestation being identified in an inscription of [[Nur-Adad]] of [[Larsa]] from Ur from the [[Isin-Larsa period]], which might reflect a rediscovery of the name by scribes under hitherto unknown circumstances.{{sfn|Steinkeller|2016|p=616}} It remained in use through subsequent periods, down to the first millennium BCE.{{sfn|Steinkeller|2016|p=617}}

The Akkadian epithet Namraṣit was considered analogous to Dilimbabbar, as attested in the god list ''[[An = Anum]]'' (tablet III, line 26).{{sfn|Feliu|2006|p=237}} It can be translated as "whose rise is luminous".{{sfn|Krebernik|1997|p=363}} Steinkeller points out that it is not a direct translation of Dilimbabbar, as it effectively leaves out the element ''dilim''.{{sfn|Steinkeller|2016|p=615}} Bendt Alster assumed that the equivalence was the result of late reinterpretation.{{sfn|Alster|2004|p=3}}