Shamash (Akkadian: šamaš), also known as Utu (written ; Sumerian: dutu, literally "Sun"), was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. He was believed to see everything that happened in the world every day, and was therefore responsible for justice and protection of travelers. As a divine judge, he could be associated with the underworld. Additionally, he could serve as the god of divination, typically alongside the weather god Adad. While he was universally regarded as one of the primary gods, he was particularly venerated in Sippar and Larsa. The moon god Nanna (Sin) and his wife Ningal were regarded as his parents, while his twin sister was Inanna (Ishtar). Occasionally other goddesses, such as Manzat and Pinikir, could be regarded as his sisters too. The dawn goddess Aya (Sherida) was his wife, and multiple texts describe their daily reunions taking place on a mountain where the sun was believed to set. Among their children were Kittum, the personification of truth, dream deities such as Mamu, as well as the god Ishum. Utu's name could be used to write the names of many foreign solar deities logographically. The connection between him and the Hurrian solar god Shimige is particularly well attested, and the latter could be associated with Aya as well.
While no myths focusing on Utu are known, he often appears as an ally of other figures in both Sumerian and Akkadian compositions. According to narratives about Dumuzi's death, he helped protect him when the galla demons tried to drag him to the underworld. In various versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh and in earlier Gilgamesh myths, he helps this hero defeat the monstrous Humbaba. In the myth Inanna and An, he helps his sister acquire the temple Eanna. In How Grain Came to Sumer, he is invoked to advise Ninazu and Ninmada.
Name The two most common names of the sun god used in Mesopotamian texts are Sumerian Utu and Akkadian Shamash. A further relatively commonly attested name is Amna, whose origin is uncertain. The most common writing of the sun god's name was the logogram dUTU, which could be read as Utu, Shamash, or, as attested in the god list An = Anum, as Amna. Syllabic spellings of all three of these names are also known. A further logographic spelling used the numeral 20, which was associated with him.
Etymology The name Shamash is a cognate of Akkadian terms šamšu ("sun") and šamšatu ("solar disc"), as well as the words referring to sun in other Semitic languages, such as Arabic šams and Hebrew šemeš. The linguistic connection between the name of the god and the corresponding celestial body has been compared to that between Adad (and Syrian Hadad) and the word addu, "storm." The Amorite form of the name is Samsu, as attested for example in the theophoric name Samsu-iluna ("Samsu is our god"). The ancient Aramaic form of the name was most likely Śameš, though many variant syllabic spellings are attested. Additionally, the name for the sun in Mandaean cosmology, Shamish (), is derived from Akkadian Shamash.
Grammatical gender Utu was understood as a masculine deity. According to Manfred Krebernik, this most likely also resulted in his Akkadian counterpart being viewed as such, even though in the majority of Semitic languages both the word referring to the sun itself and names of solar deities are grammatically feminine. Julia M. Asher-Greve considers this the oldest attested example of a Mesopotamian deity's gender being impacted by syncretism. However, not all researchers agree with the assumption that the name Shamash was ever understood as referring to a female deity in Akkadian-speaking areas. Christopher Woods argues that the only available evidence are early ambiguous theophoric names, which according to him do not necessarily point at the existence of female Shamash, and might omit prepositions necessary to identify the gender of the deity invoked in them. Manfred Krebernik notes that a well known example of a female deity in what he deems the "cuneiform cultural sphere" is Shapash. At the same time, both the Amorites and the Arameans viewed the solar deity as male, like Sumerians and Akkadians.
Secondary names and epithets According to Manfred Krebernik, the name Amna, attested as a synonym of Utu in the god list An = Anum and used to refer to the sun god in an inscription of Nabonidus, might be either connected to the toponym Sippar-Amnanum or to a root attested in Northwest Semitic languages, '-m-n, which can be translated as "to be reliable" or "to be firm."
Dozens of other variant names, epithets or possibly minor deities who came to be seen as synonymous with Utu are attested in god lists. Examples include Karkara (possibly related to Ninkar, one of the names of his wife Aya), Nimindu (possibly related to the name of the goddess Nimintabba), Si'e ("who shines forth"), Ṣalam (possibly a name referring to a winged sun symbol) and U'e ("sunrise").
Character The sun god was one of the principal deities of the Mesopotamian pantheon. In the Early Dynastic god list from Fara, he is the sixth among the deities listed, after Anu, Enlil, Inanna, Enki and Nanna. In later god lists, for example in An = Anum, he and his circle appears between Nanna (Sin) and Ishkur (Adad). The Old Babylonian Nippur god list instead places him between Ishkur and Ninurta. Despite Utu's typical high status, it is agreed that the role of the sun and deities representing it in Mesopotamian religion was not comparable to that known from ancient Egyptian religion. Based on the attestations of theophoric names such as Shamash-bel-ili (Akkadian: "Shamash is the lord of the gods"), Shamash-Enlil-ili ("Shamash is the Enlil of the gods") and Shamash-ashared-ili ("Shamash is the foremost of the gods"), Wilfred G. Lambert proposed that a tradition in which he was the supreme god of the pantheon did exist, but never found official support and its spread was limited to the clergy in Sippar and to a smaller degree Larsa.
Common epithets characterize Utu as a "youth" (Sumerian šul, Akkadian eṭlu) and "hero" (Sumerian ursaĝ, Akkadian qarrādu). As a representation of the sun, he was believed to travel every day through the sky from east to west, and at night in the opposite direction through AN.ŠAG4, a "nether sky" located directly above the underworld, though the notion of a night journey only developed later, and in sources from the third millennium BCE Utu usually rests at night. A reference to the latter tradition is also known from the "Standard Babylonian" version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, where Shamash meets with his wife Aya after sunset. Utu's vehicle was a solar chariot, which was pulled by four animals bearing the Sumerian names Uhegalanna ("the abundant light of heaven"), Uhushgalanna ("the terrifying great light of heaven"), Usurmurgalanna ("the dreadful great light of heaven") and Unirgalanna ("the noble light of heaven"). Their species is not entirely consistent, though in most cases the sun chariot is apparently associated with equids: "choice steeds" (niskum) in an inscription of Gudea, horses in various prayers and incantations, and mules in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Manfred Krebernik argues that in early sources, his chariot was drawn by lions, but this has been questioned by Marco Bonechi. Nathan Wasserman in his translation of a fragment of a hymn to Utu mentioning the animals only refers to them as "beasts." Sunrise and sunset were described as the sun god passing through cosmic gates situated on twin mountains on the opposite ends of the world. It was believed that his daily journey let him see everything happening on earth. He was also responsible for protection of travelers. Formulas common in both prayers and literary compositions indicate that he was likely often invoked outside temples, presumably as an astral body. Early morning was likely regarded as the most appropriate time for imploring him for help.
Utu was also the primary god of justice, presumably because due to traveling through the sky every day he was believed to see everything that happened in the world. He could be assisted in this role by his father Nanna, his sister Inanna, and various minor judge deities. At least in the third millennium BCE, Ishtaran was regarded as a divine judge equal in rank to Utu, and a fragment of a myth from Ebla mentions a divine tribunal in which they both partake alongside Idlurugu (dÍD), a river god also known for his association with justice and judgment who represented ordeal by water. A hymn to Utu states that Idlurugu cannot give judgment without his presence. As an extension of his role as a divine judge, Utu could be associated with the underworld, though this connection is not attested before the Old Babylonian period. In exorcisms, he could be implored to help with bringing restless ghosts to the land of the dead. In this capacity he could be associated with the deified legendary king Gilgamesh, commonly portrayed in a similar role.
Shamash and Adad were jointly regarded as gods of divination, especially extispicy. The connection between the sun god and the weather god is well attested in Mesopotamian sources and goes back to the Old Babylonian period. Its origin is uncertain, but since in the earliest Sumerian sources Ishkur, who was analogous to Adad, was not associated with divination, it is possible that it was based on the association between Hadad and the solar deity in Ebla and possibly elsewhere in Syria and Upper Mesopotamia. According to a late ritual text, Shamash and Adad were responsible for teaching divination to the mythical king Enmeduranki. Subsequently, he taught it to the people of Sippar, Nippur and Babylon.
Iconography
Whether referred to as Utu or Shamash, the sun god had identical iconography. Due to distinct attributes, he is considered one of the few Mesopotamian deities who can be identified in art with certainty. Depictions of him are known from many sites, for example Eshnunna, Tell al-Rimah, Sippar, Ur and Susa. His best attested attributes are a large saw (šaššaru) and rays of light emanating from his shoulders. The reasons behind associating him with the former are poorly understood, and various interpretations have been proposed, for example that it was a representation of the first ray of sunshine of the day, that it was associated with judgment, perhaps as a weapon used to behead criminals, or that the sun god used it to break through the mountains during his daily journey. Christopher Woods points out that both in Sumerian and Akkadian, judgments had to be "cut" (kud/parāsum), and therefore considers the association with judgment to be most likely. The saw's presence is often used to identify depictions of gods as Utu. He could also be depicted holding the rod-and-ring symbol, commonly associated with major deities. In some cases he is shown handing them to human rulers.