This name is supposed to mean "lord of the great habitation," which would be a parallel to that of his spouse Ereš-ki-gal. He was the ruler of Hades, and at the same time god of war and of disease and pestilence. As warrior, he naturally fought on the side of those who worshipped him, as in the phrase which describes him as "the warrior, the fierce storm-flood overthrowing the land of the enemy." As pointed out by Jastrow, he differs from Nirig, who was also a god of war, in that he symbolises, as god of disease and death, the misery and destruction which accompany the strife of nations. It is in consequence of this side of his character that he appears also as god of fire, the destroying element, and Jensen says that Nerigal was god of the midday or of the summer sun, and therefore of all the misfortunes caused by an excess of his heat.

The chief centre of his worship was Cuthah (/Kutû/, Sumerian /Gudua/) near Babylon, now represented by the mounds of Tel Ibrahim. The identity with the Greek Aries and the Roman Mars is proved by the fact that his planet was /Muštabarrû-mûtanu/, "the death-spreader," which is probably the name of Mars in Semitic Babylonian.

Amurru.

Although this is not by any means a frequent name among the deities worshipped in Babylonia, it is worthy of notice on account of its bearing upon the date of the compilation of the tablet which has been taken as a basis of this list of gods. He was known as "Lord of the mountains," and his worship became very popular during the period of the dynasty to which Hammurabi belonged—say from 2200 to 1937 B.C., when Amurru was much combined with the names of men, and is found both on tablets and cylinder-seals. The ideographic manner of writing it is /Mar-tu/, a word that is used for /Amurru/, the land of the Amorites, which stood for the West in general. Amorites had entered Babylonia in considerable numbers during this period, so that there is but little doubt that his popularity was largely due to their influence, and the tablet containing these names was probably drawn up, or at least had the Semitic equivalents added, towards the beginning of that period.

Sin or Nannara.

The cult of the moon-god was one of the most popular in Babylonia, the chief seat of his worship being at Uru (now Muqayyar) the Biblical Ur of the Chaldees. The origin of the name Sin is unknown, but it is thought that it may be a corruption of Zu-ena, "knowledge-lord," as the compound ideograph expressing his name may be read and translated. Besides this compound ideograph, the name of the god Sin was also expressed by the character for "30," provided with the prefix of divinity, an ideograph which is due to the thirty days of the month, and is thought to be of late date. With regard to Nannar, Jastrow explains it as being for Narnar, and renders it "light-producer." In a long hymn to this god he is described in many lines as "the lord, prince of the gods, who in heaven alone is supreme," and as "father Nannar." Among his other descriptive titles are "great Anu" (Sum. /ana gale/, Semitic Bab. /Anu rabû/)—another instance of the identification of two deities. He was also "lord of Ur," "lord of the temple Gišnu-gala," "lord of the shining crown," etc. He is also said to be "the mighty steer whose horns are strong, whose limbs are perfect, who is bearded with a beard of lapis-stone,[*] who is filled with beauty and fullness (of splendour)."

[*] Probably of the colour of lapis only, not made of the stone itself.

Besides Babylonia and Assyria, he was also worshipped in other parts of the Semitic east, especially at Harran, to which city Abraham migrated, scholars say, in consequence of the patron-deity being the same as at Ur of the Chaldees, where he had passed the earlier years of his life. The Mountain of Sinai and the Desert of Sin, both bear his name.

According to king Dungi (about 2700 B.C.), the spouse of Sin or
Nannara was Nin-Uruwa, "the lady of Ur." Sargon of Assyria (722-705
B.C.) calls her Nin-gala.

Addu or Rammanu.