Editing Moon (section)

===Cultural representation===
{{Further|Cultural astronomy|Archaeoastronomy|Lunar deity |Selene |Luna (goddess) |Crescent |Man in the Moon }}
{{see also|Nocturne (painting)|Moon magic}}

{{multiple image
| title             = Recurring lunar [[aspect (religion)|aspects]] of [[lunar deities]]
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| image1            = Sumerian_Cylinder_Seal_of_King_Ur-Nammu.jpg
| alt1              = [[Sumeria]]n [[cylinder seal]] and impression, dated {{circa|2100}} BC, of Ḫašḫamer, [[ensi (Sumerian)|ensi]] (governor) of Iškun-Sin c. 2100 BC. The seated figure is probably king [[Ur-Nammu]], bestowing the governorship on Ḫašḫamer, who is led before him by [[Lamassu|Lamma]] (protective goddess).<ref name="Collections Search – Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1987">{{cite web |title=Cylinder vase |website=Collections Search – Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |date=May 20, 1987 |url=https://collections.mfa.org/objects/6027/cylinder-vase;jsessionid=F2E906D47F69B2A85DB31D259E691783 |access-date=November 11, 2021 |archive-date=November 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111060850/https://collections.mfa.org/objects/6027/cylinder-vase;jsessionid=F2E906D47F69B2A85DB31D259E691783 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| caption1          = The [[crescent]] of [[Sin (mythology)|Nanna/Sîn]], {{circa|2100}} BC
| image2            = Patera di Parabiago - MI - Museo archeologico - Diana - Luna - 25-7-2003 - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto - 25-7-2003.jpg
| alt2              = [[Luna (goddess)|Luna]] on the [[Parabiago plate]] (2nd–5th century), featuring the crescent crown, [[Luna (goddess)#Chariot of the Moon|chariot]] and [[velificatio]] as lunar [[aspect (religion)|aspect]] found in different cultures.
| caption2          = Crescent headgear, [[Luna (goddess)#Chariot of the Moon|chariot]] and [[velificatio]] of [[Luna (goddess)|Luna]], 2nd–5th century
| image3            = Goddess O Ixchel.jpg
| alt3              = Rabbits are in a range of cultures identified with the Moon, from China to the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas]], as with the rabbit (on the left) of the [[Maya moon goddess]] (6th–9th century).
| caption3          = A [[Moon rabbit]] of the [[Maya moon goddess|Mayan moon goddess]], 6th–9th century
| image4            =
| caption4          =
}}

Humans have not only observed the Moon since [[prehistoric times]], but have also developed intricate perceptions of the Moon. Over time the Moon has been characterized and associated in many different ways, from having a [[Spirit (vital essence)|spirit]] or being [[Lunar deity|a deity]], and an [[aspect (religion)|aspect]] thereof or an aspect [[Moon (astrology)|in astrology]], being made an important part of many [[cosmology|cosmologies]].

This rich history of humans viewing the Moon has been evidenced starting with depictions from 40,000 [[Before present|BP]] and in written form from the [[4th millennium BCE]] in the earliest cases of [[writing]]. The oldest named astronomer and poet [[Enheduanna]], [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian]] high priestess to the lunar deity [[Sin (mythology)|Nanna/Sin]] and pricess, daughter of [[Sargon the Great]] ({{circa|2334}} &ndash; {{circa|2279}} BCE), tracked the Moon and wrote poems about her divine Moon.<ref name="c099"/>

====Crescent====
For the representation of the Moon, especially its [[lunar phase]]s, the [[crescent]] (🌙) has been a recurring symbol in a range of cultures since at least 3,000 BCE or possibly earlier with bull horns dating to the earliest [[cave painting]]s at 40,000 [[Before present|BP]].<ref name="e093"/><ref name="k874"/> In [[writing system]]s such as Chinese the crescent has developed into the symbol {{lang|zh |{{linktext|月}}}}, the word for Moon, and in ancient Egyptian it was the symbol {{linktext|𓇹}}, meaning Moon and spelled like the ancient Egyptian lunar deity ''[[Iah]]'',<ref name="Hart 2005 p. 77">{{cite book |last=Hart |first=G. |title=The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses |publisher=Taylor & Francis |series=Routledge Dictionaries |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-134-28424-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1LAiPylZm4C&pg=PA77 |access-date=February 23, 2022 |page=77 |archive-date=July 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220725234921/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1LAiPylZm4C&pg=PA77 |url-status=live}}</ref> which the other ancient Egyptian lunar deities [[Khonsu]] and [[Thoth]] were associated with.

Iconographically the crescent was used in [[Mesopotamia]] as the primary symbol of [[Sin (mythology)|Nanna/Sîn]],<ref name=BlackGreen1992/> the ancient [[Sumeria]]n lunar deity,<ref name=Nemet1998>{{citation |last=Nemet-Nejat |first=Karen Rhea |date=1998 |title=Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-313-29497-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/203 203] |url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme |access-date=June 11, 2019 |archive-date=June 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616064441/https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/203 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=BlackGreen1992>{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=Jeremy |first2=Anthony |last2=Green |title=Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05LXAAAAMAAJ |publisher=The British Museum Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-7141-1705-8 |pages=54, 135 |access-date=October 28, 2017 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819021935/https://books.google.com/books?id=05LXAAAAMAAJ&hl=en |url-status=live}}</ref> who was the father of [[Inanna|Inanna/Ishtar]], the goddess of the planet [[Venus]] (symbolized as the [[Octagram|eight pointed]] [[Star of Ishtar]]),<ref name="Nemet1998"/><ref name=BlackGreen1992/> and [[Utu|Utu/Shamash]], the god of the Sun ([[Solar symbol|symbolized as a disc, optionally with eight rays]]),<ref name="Nemet1998"/><ref name=BlackGreen1992/> all three often depicted next to each other. Nanna/Sîn is, like some other lunar deities, for example Iah and Khonsu of ancient Egypt, [[Mene (goddess)|Mene]]/[[Selene]] of ancient Greece and [[Luna (mythology)|Luna]] of ancient Rome, depicted as a [[horned deity]], featuring crescent shaped headgears or crowns.<ref>{{cite book |last=Zschietzschmann |first=W. |date=2006 |title=Hellas and Rome: The Classical World in Pictures |location=Whitefish, Montana |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=978-1-4286-5544-7 |page=23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Cohen |first=Beth |date=2006 |article=Outline as a Special Technique in Black- and Red-figure Vase-painting |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YyufPUA_S74C&pg=PA178 |title=The Colors of Clay: Special Techniques in Athenian Vases |location=Los Angeles |publisher=Getty Publications |isbn=978-0-89236-942-3 |pages=178–179 |access-date=April 28, 2020 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819021937/https://books.google.com/books?id=YyufPUA_S74C&pg=PA178&hl=en |url-status=live}}</ref>

The particular arrangement of the crescent with a star known as the [[star and crescent]] (☪️) goes back to the Bronze Age, representing either the Sun and Moon, or the Moon and the planet Venus, in combination. It came to represent the selene goddess [[Artemis]], and via the patronage of [[Hecate]], which as [[triple deity]] under the [[epithet]] ''trimorphos''/''trivia'' included aspects of Artemis/[[Diana (mythology)|Diana]], came to be used as a [[Byzantine flags and insignia|symbol of Byzantium]], with [[Virgin Mary]] ([[Queen of Heaven]]) later taking her place, becoming depicted in [[Marian veneration]] on a crescent and adorned with stars. Since then the [[heraldry|heraldric]] use of the star and crescent proliferated, Byzantium's symbolism possibly influencing the development of the [[Ottoman flag]], specifically the combination of the Turkish crescent with a star,<ref>"It seems possible, though not certain, that after the conquest Mehmed took over the crescent ''and'' star as an emblem of sovereignty from the Byzantines. The half-moon alone on a blood red flag, allegedly conferred on the Janissaries by Emir Orhan, was much older, as is demonstrated by numerous references to it dating from before 1453. But since these flags lack the star, which along with the half-moon is to be found on Sassanid and Byzantine municipal coins, it may be regarded as an innovation of Mehmed. It seems certain that in the interior of Asia tribes of Turkish nomads had been using the half-moon alone as an emblem for some time past, but it is equally certain that crescent and star ''together'' are attested only for a much later period. There is good reason to believe that old Turkish and Byzantine traditions were combined in the emblem of Ottoman and, much later, present-day Republican Turkish sovereignty." Franz Babinger (William C. Hickman Ed., Ralph Manheim Trans.), ''Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time'', Princeton University Press, 1992, p 108</ref> and becoming a popular [[Symbols of Islam|symbol for Islam]] (as the ''[[wikt:hilal#Noun|hilal]]'' of the [[Islamic calendar]]) and [[Star and crescent#Contemporary use|for a range of nations]].<ref name="Kadoi 2014">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Kadoi |first=Yuka |title=Crescent (symbol of Islam) |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Islam Online |date=October 1, 2014 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/crescent-symbol-of-islam-COM_25588?s.num=27&s.start=20}}</ref>

====Other association====
The features of the Moon, the contrasting brighter highlands and darker maria, have been seen by different cultures [[Lunar pareidolia|forming abstract shapes]]. Such shapes are among others the [[Man in the Moon]] (e.g. [[Coyolxāuhqui]]) or the [[Moon Rabbit]] (e.g. the Chinese [[Tu'er Ye]] or in [[Mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous American mythologies]] the aspect of the [[Maya moon goddess|Mayan Moon goddess]], from which possibly [[Awilix]] is derived, or of [[Metztli]]/[[Tēcciztēcatl]]).<ref name="Collections Search – Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1987"/>

Occasionally some lunar deities have been also depicted [[Luna (goddess)#Chariot of the Moon|driving a chariot across the sky]], such as the Hindu [[Chandra|Chandra/Soma]], the Greek Artemis, which is associated with Selene, or Luna, Selene's ancient Roman equivalent.

Color and material wise the Moon has been associated in Western [[alchemy]] with [[silver]], while gold is associated with the Sun.<ref name="Abbri 2019 pp. 39–44">{{cite journal |last=Abbri |first=Ferdinando |title=Gold and silver: perfection of metals in medieval and early modern alchemy |journal=Substantia |date=August 30, 2019 |issn=2532-3997 |doi=10.13128/Substantia-603 |pages=39–44 |url=https://riviste.fupress.net/index.php/subs/article/view/603 |access-date=April 8, 2022 |archive-date=June 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617041849/https://riviste.fupress.net/index.php/subs/article/view/603 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Through a miracle, the so-called [[splitting of the Moon]] ({{langx|ar|انشقاق القمر}}) in [[Islam]], association with the Moon applies also to [[Muhammad]].<ref>"Muhammad." ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, p.13</ref>{{clear}}