which was also to become
a unit of currency (Ezra 2:69),
is marked ‘ half-mina ’ (here 248 grams)
and bears a crescent moon,
symbol of the moon-god Sin,
protector of Ur.
Terah, the father of Abraham,
lived in this city,
and perhaps worshipped him.
- Genesis 11:27, 28; Joshua 24:2, 14.
Crescent Moon, symbol of the moon-god Sin
Moon worship developed very early on in Mesopotamia. The moon-god was known as Nanna by the Sumerians and Sin by the Babylonians. In Egyptian civilisation, the wounded left eye of Horus represented the moon. The Greeks saw it as the ‘residence of souls’. Religions accord the moon varying degrees of importance. It marks the start of the Chinese New Year.
The Prophet Mohammed was to institute, in 631
All civilisations, all religions
have venerated the moon
a purely moon-based calendar, and the crescent then became an important symbol. The first Passover was observed at the time of the full moon, on the 14th day of the month of Nisan in 1513 BCE (Exodus 1218). And this time detail allowed Christians to follow the commemoration
of the death of Christ, “our Passover”,
with accuracy (1 Corinthians 5:7).
In the Bible, the moon is not mentioned
and remains confined, as does the sun,
to its luminary function (Genesis 1:16).
We will also find this prohibition in the Decalogue:
"You must not make for yourself
a carved image or a form
like anything that is
in the heavens above."
Exodus 20:4
A weight, An enigma
This weight also illustrates the enigma posed to the last King of Babylon, Belshazzar: “Me´ne, Me´ne, Te´kel and Par´sin.” (Daniel 5:24, 25). The consonants of the first word of this writing on the wall enabled both the word 'mina', meaning weight, and a form of the Aramaic word for ‘numbered’ to be deciphered.
“ME´NE, ME´NE, TE´KEL
and PAR´SIN.”
Daniel 5:24, 25
God had numbered the days and announced
the end of the Babylonian dynasty.
Centuries later, Babylon had effectively become
“piles of stones, the lair of jackals, an object
of astonishment and something to whistle at,
without an inhabitant ”, quiet but eloquent
evidence of the infallible accuracy
of the prophetic word. - Jeremiah 51:37.
The fall of the enigmatic ‘Babylon the Great’ (Revelation 18:2) was announced with as much certainty.
