Utu

Utu,[a] later worshipped by East Semitic peoples as Shamash,[b] was the ancient Mesopotamian Sun god - god of
Utu (Shamash)
justice, morality, and truth, and the twin of the goddess Inanna, the Queen of Heaven. His main temples were in the
cities of Sippar and Larsa. He was believed to ride through the heavens in his sun chariot and see all things that Sun god - god of justice, morality,
happened in the day. He was the enforcer of divine justice and was thought to aid those in distress. According to and truth
Sumerian mythology, he helped protect Dumuzid when the galla demons tried to drag him to the Underworld and he
appeared to the hero Ziusudra after the Great Flood. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, he helps Gilgamesh defeat the ogre
Humbaba.

Contents
Family
Worship
Iconography
Mythology
Later influence
Family tree
See also
Notes Representation of Shamash from
References the Tablet of Shamash (c. 888 – 855
Bibliography BC), showing him sitting on his
throne dispensing justice while
External links
clutching a rod-and-ring symbol
Abode Heavens
Family Planet Sun
Symbol Mace, Saw, Sun rays
Utu was the twin brother of Inanna,[4][5] the Queen of Heaven, whose domain
from shoulders, Sun Disk
encompassed a broad variety of different powers.[6][5] In Sumerian texts, Inanna
and Utu are shown as extremely close;[7] in fact, their relationship frequently Mount Sun chariot
borders on incestuous.[7][8] Utu is usually the son of Nanna, the god of the Personal information
moon, and his wife, Ningal,[9][10] but is sometimes also described as the son of Consort Sherida
An or Enlil.[9][10] His wife was the goddess Sherida, later known in Akkadian as
Children Kittu ("Truth") and
Aya.[11][12][10] Sherida was a goddess of beauty, fertility, and sexual love,[12]
Misharu ("Justice")
possibly because light was seen as inherently beautiful, or because of the sun's
role in promoting agricultural fertility.[12] They were believed to have two Parents usually Nanna and
offspring: the goddess Kittu, whose name means "Truth", and the god Misharu, Ningal, but sometimes
whose name means "Justice".[12] By the time of the Old Babylonian Period (c. the son of An or Enlil
1830 – c. 1531 BC), Sherida, and consequently Utu, was associated with nadītu, Siblings Ereshkigal (older sister)
an order of cloistered women who devoted their lives to the gods.[10] Utu's and Inanna (twin sister),
charioteer Bunene is sometimes described as his son.[11][10] Bunene was Ishkur/ Hadad (in some
worshipped independently from Utu as a god of justice in Sippar and Uruk sources)
Goddess Ishtar stands on a lion and
holds a bow, god Shamash symbol at
during the Old Babylonian Period[11][10] and, in later times, he was also
the upper right corner, from Southern worshipped at Assur.[11][10]
Mesopotamia, Iraq
Worship
Utu was worshipped in Sumer from the very earliest times.[11] The oldest documents mentioning him date to around 3500 BC, during the first stages of
Sumerian writing.[10] His main temples, which were both known as E-babbar ("White House"), were located in Sippar and in Larsa.[11] Utu continued to be
venerated until the end of Mesopotamian culture[10] and was worshipped for well over 3,000 years.[10] Utu's main personality characteristics are his kindness
and generosity,[10] but, like all other Mesopotamian deities, he was not above refusing a request which inconvenienced him.[10] In the Hurro-Akkadian
bilingual Weidner god list, Utu is equated with the Hurrian sun-god Šimigi.[13] In the Ugaritic trilingual version of the Weidner god list, Šimigi and Utu are
both equated with Lugalbanda.[14]

Iconography
In Sumerian texts, Utu is described as "bearded" and "long-armed".[11] In art, he is shown as an old man with a long beard.[10] He was believed to emerge from
the doors of Heaven every day at dawn and ride across the sky in his chariot before returning to the "interior of heaven" through a set of doors in the far west
every evening.[11] Utu's charioteer was named Bunene.[15] Cylinder seals often show two gods holding the doors open for him as he wields his weapon, the
pruning-saw,[11] a double-edged arch-shaped saw with large, jagged teeth, representing his role as the god of justice.[11] Utu's main symbol was the solar
disc,[10] a circle with four points in each of the cardinal directions and four wavy, diagonal lines emanating from the circle between each point.[10] This symbol
represented the light, warmth, and power of the sun.[10]
 Detail of a cylinder seal from Sippar (2300 Old Babylonian cylinder seal impression depicting
BC) depicting Shamash with rays rising Shamash surrounded by worshippers (c. 1850-
from his shoulders and holding a saw- 1598 BC)
toothed knife with which he cuts his way
through the mountains of the east at dawn
(British Museum)

Mesopotamian limestone cylinder seal and Version of the ancient Male figure in an Assyrian winged sun emblem
impression showing people worshipping star/Sun symbol of (Northwest Palace of Nimrud, 9th century BCE;
Shamash (Louvre) Shamash[16] British Museum room B, panel 23). This
iconography later gave rise to the Faravahar
symbol of Zoroastrianism.

Shamash depicted on bronze coin struck in Hatra (c.

Mythology
The Sumerians believed that, as he rode through heaven, Utu saw everything that happened in the world.[11][12] Alongside his sister Inanna, Utu was the
enforcer of divine justice.[7] At night, Utu was believed to travel through the Underworld as he journeyed to the east in preparation for the sunrise.[12] One
Sumerian literary work refers to Utu illuminating the Underworld and dispensing judgement there[17] and Shamash Hymn 31 (BWL 126) states that Utu serves
as a judge of the dead in the Underworld alongside the malku, kusu, and the Anunnaki.[17] On his way through the Underworld, Utu was believed to pass
through the garden of the sun-god,[12] which contained trees that bore precious gems as fruit.[12]

Utu was believed to take an active role in human affairs,[11] and was thought to aid those in distress.[11] In one of his earliest appearances in literature, in the
Myth of Etana, written before the conquest of Sargon of Akkad (c. 2334–2284 BC), the hero Etana invokes Utu to help his wife conceive a child.[10] In the
Sumerian poem The Dream of Dumuzid, Utu intervenes to rescue Inanna's husband Dumuzid from the galla demons who are hunting him.[11] In the Sumerian
flood myth, Utu emerges after the flood waters begin to subside,[18][19] causing Ziusudra, the hero of the story, to throw open a window on his boat and fall
down prostrate before him.[18][19] Ziusudra sacrifices a sheep and an ox to Utu for delivering him to salvation.[18][19]

In the Sumerian King List, one of the early kings of Uruk is described as "the son of Utu"[11] and Utu seems to have served as a special protector to several of
that city's later kings.[11] In the Sumerian poem of Gilgamesh and Huwawa, the hero Gilgamesh asks Utu to assist him in his journey to the Cedar
Mountain.[20] In this version, Gilgamesh asks Utu's help because Utu is associated with the Cedar Mountain, which is implied to be located in the far east, the
land where the sun rises.[21] Utu is initially reluctant to help,[22] but, after Gilgamesh explains that he is doing this because he intends to establish his name,
because he knows he will eventually die, Utu agrees.[21] Once Gilgamesh reaches the Cedar Mountain, Utu helps him defeat the ogre Huwawa, who lives
there.[22]

In the standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh's plan to visit the Cedar Mountain is still his own idea and he goes to Shamash for aid.[23] In this
version, however, the Cedar Mountain is explicitly stated to be located in the northwest, in Lebanon.[24] Shamash helps Gilgamesh defeat Humbaba (the East
Semitic name for Huwawa).[11][25] Jeffrey H. Tigay suggests that Lugalbanda's association with the sun-god in the Old Babylonian version of the epic
strengthened "the impression that at one point in the history of the tradition the sun-god was also invoked as an ancestor".[26] In the Sumerian version,
Gilgamesh's initial quest is to visit the Cedar Mountain and Humbaba is merely an obstacle that Gilgamesh and Enkidu encounter once they have already
arrived there,[27] but, in the Babylonian version, defeating Humbaba is the initial quest on which the heroes embark.[28] In a late version of the Gilgamesh
story, Shamash becomes the instigator of the quest, the one who instructs Gilgamesh to go slay Humbaba to begin with.[28] Tigay describes this as the "final
and logical development of [Shamash's] role."[28]

Later influence
The authors of the Hebrew Bible generally attempt to portray the sun in a non-anthropomorphic manner, sometimes using it as a symbol of Yahweh's power.[29]
The Hebrew word for "sun", šapaš or šemeš, is often substituted for euphemisms, such as the word or, meaning "light".[29] These authors appear to have made
a conscious effort to avoid implications of sun worship, even of a Yahwistic variety, at all costs.[29] Specifically, God creates the "greater light," the "lesser
light," and the stars. According to Victor Hamilton, most scholars agree that the choice of "greater light" and "lesser light", rather than the more explicit "Sun"
and "Moon", is anti-mythological rhetoric intended to contradict widespread contemporary beliefs that the Sun and the Moon were deities themselves.[30]
However, the Woman of the Apocalypse in the Book of Revelation, may directly allude to ancient Near Eastern sun goddesses.[29]

Family tree
An

Enki Ninkikurga
Nisaba
Ninḫursaĝ born to born to Ḫaya
born to Uraš
Namma Namma

Ninsar Ninlil Enlil

Ningal
Nergal Ninurta
maybe
Ninkurra Nanna maybe son of maybe born to
daughter of
Enki Ninḫursaĝ
Enlil

Inanna
possibly also Dumuzid
Ninkigal
Uttu the daughter of maybe son of Utu
married Nergal
Enki, of Enlil, or Enki
of An

Meškiaĝĝašer Lugalbanda Ninsu

Enmerkar Gilgāmeš

Urnungal

See also
The Utukku
Shapash

Notes
a. Akkadian rendition[1][2] of Sumerian dUD 𒀭𒌓 "Sun",[3]
b. Akkadian šamaš "Sun" was cognate to Phoenician: 𐤔𐤌𐤔 šmš, Classical Syriac: šemša, Hebrew: ׁ‫מש‬
ֶ ֶׁ‫ ש‬šemeš and Arabic: ‫ ﺷﻤﺲ‬šams.

References
1. http://www.sumerian.org/sumlogo.htm s.v.
"babbar(2)"
 2. Frederick Augustus Vanderbergh : 3. Kasak, Enn; Veede, Raul (2001). Mare 12. Holland 2009, p. 115.
Sumerian Hymns from Cuneiform Texts in Kõiva; Andres Kuperjanov (eds.). 13. Simons 2017, p. 83.
the British Museum. Columbia University "Understanding Planets in Ancient
14. Simons 2017, p. 86.
Press, 1908. p. 53 (https://books.google.co Mesopotamia (PDF)" (http://www.folklore.e
m/books?id=lk0YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA53&lp e/Folklore/vol16/planets.pdf) (PDF). 15. Black & Green 1992, p. 52.
g=PA53&dq=Sumerian+UD+sun&source= Electronic Journal of Folklore. Estonian 16. Black & Green 1992, p. 68.
bl&ots=ew7v7u-uGk&sig=ZZ9xA87ULWnN Literary Museum. 16: 7–35. 17. Horowitz 1998, p. 352.
IWlwlpk8ssRn6bY&hl=en&ei=NbXhSq6AL doi:10.7592/fejf2001.16.planets (https://do 18. Kramer 1961, p. 98.
sHj8QaO6ejyAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct i.org/10.7592%2Ffejf2001.16.planets).
=result&resnum=2&ved=0CA0Q6AEwAQ# ISSN 1406-0957 (https://www.worldcat.or 19. Hämmerly-Dupuy 1988, p. 56.
v=onepage&q=Sumerian%20UD%20sun&f g/issn/1406-0957). The Sumerian 20. Tigay 2002, p. 76.
=false). cuneiform character is encoded in Unicode 21. Tigay 2002, pp. 76–77.
at U+12313 𒌓 (Borger nr. 381). Borger's 22. Tigay 2002, p. 77.
381 is U4. 23. Tigay 2002, pp. 77–78.
http://www.sron.nl/~jheise/signlists/top20.html
24. Tigay 2002, p. 78.
4. Black & Green 1992, p. 182.
25. Tigay 2002, pp. 77–81.
5. Pryke 2017, p. 36.
26. Tigay 2002, pp. 76–81.
6. Black & Green 1992, pp. 108–109.
27. Tigay 2002, pp. 77, 79.
7. Pryke 2017, pp. 36–37.
28. Tigay 2002, p. 79.
8. Black & Green 1992, p. 183.
29. van der Toorn, Becking & van der Horst
9. Black & Green 1992, pp. 182–184.
1999, p. 960.
10. Mark 2017.
30. Hamilton 1990, p. 127.
11. Black & Green 1992, p. 184.

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England: The British Museum Press, ISBN 0-7141-1705-6 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press,
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&q&f=false). New International Commentary on the Old Testament ent.eu/Utu-Shamash/), Ancient History Encyclopedia
(NICOT). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Pryke, Louise M. (2017), Ishtar (https://books.google.com/?id=fggq
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UC&pg=PA115&dq=Utu+sun+god#v=onepage&q=Utu%20sun%20 Tigay, Jeffrey H. (2002) [1982], The Evolution of the Gilgamesh
god&f=false), Lanham, Maryland, Boulder, Colorado, New York Epic (https://books.google.com/?id=cxjuHTH6I2sC&pg=PA76&dq=
City, New York, Toronto, Ontario, and Plymouth, England: Rowman Utu+sun+god#v=onepage&q=Utu%20sun%20god&f=false),
& Littlefield Publishers, Inc., ISBN 978-0-7425-9979-6 Wauconda, Illinois: Bolchazzy-Carucci Publishers, Inc., ISBN 0-
Horowitz, Wayne (1998), Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography (http 86516-546-7
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(second ed.), Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdman's
Publishing Company, ISBN 0-8028-2491-9

External links
Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses: Utu/Šamaš (god) (http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/utu/)

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