The Paths of the Moon, Sun, and Planets. The Moon, Sun, and planets move over the course of the year in relation to the fixed-stars. Both the terms Path of Sin and Path of Shamash, like the Paths of Anu, Enlil, and Ea, refer to fixed bands in the sky. In Mul-Apin I iv 31-39, the closing section of Mul-Apin I, the Path of Sin (ḫarrān dsîn) is explained in terms of 18 stars (see p. 171). According to the list, the Mon moves through the stellar paths in the annual sequence Ani-Enlil-Anu-Ea-Anu. The term Path of Shamash (ḫarrān dšamaš) occurs as a fixed band in the sky in astronomical reports and omens where stars reach (ka-šādu) the path of Shamash at night (i.e., enter into the course that the Sun follows during the day). Likewise, in Ee V 21-22, the Moon-god is commanded to approach (šutaqrib) the Path of Shamash on the last day of the lunar month (ūm bubbulim), where neither the Sun nor Moon is seen in the sky at night.

The opening section of Mul-Apin II identifies the Path of Shamash and the paths of the planets with the Moon’s path:

The path which the Moon goes in, the Sun goes alone.

The path which the Moon goes in, Jupiter goes along.

The path which the Moon goes in, Venus goes along.

The path which the Moon goes in, mars goes along.

The path which the Moon goes in, the planet Mercury,

whose name is Ninurta, go[es along].

The path which the Mon does in, the planet Saturn goes along.

Mul-Apin II I 1-6 (see pp. 171-72)

The Moon’s path is itself defined by the 18 stars in the Path of Sin in the immediately preceeding closing section of Mul-Apin I. Thus, the paths of the Sun and the five modern planets in Mul-Apin Ii, like the Path of Sin in Mul-Apin I, crosses the boundaries between the Paths of Anu, Enlil, and Ea. Later in Mul-Apin II, the Sun is said to travel in different stellar paths during different seasons of the year (see pp. 172-72).