Shamash

Shamash 𒀭𒌓
God of the sun and justice
Representation of Shamash from the Tablet of Shamash (c. 888 – 855 BC), showing him sitting on his throne dispensing justice while clutching a rod-and-ring symbol
Other names	Utu, Amna
Major cult center	Sippar, Larsa
Abode	Heaven
Planet	Sun
Symbol	saw, rays of light, solar disc, winged sun
Number	20
Mount	Sun chariot
Genealogy
Parents	Nanna and Ningal
Siblings	Inanna/Ishtar (twin sister) Manzat (in a single Maqlû incantation) Pinikir (through syncretism with Ishtar)
Consort	Aya/Sherida
Children	Mamu, Kittum, Sisig, Zaqar, Šumugan, Ishum
Equivalents
Hurrian	Šimige
Ugaritic	Shapash
Hittite	Sun goddess of Arinna, Sun goddess of the Earth, Sun god of Heaven
Luwian	Tiwat
Elamite	Nahhunte

Shamash (Akkadian: šamaš^[a]), also known as Utu (Sumerian: ^dutu 𒀭𒌓 "Sun"^[2]) 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.

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