Shamash

In Mesopotamian religion Shamash was the common Akkadian name of the sun god and god of justice in Babylonia and Assyria, corresponding to Sumerian Utu.

Shamash was the son of the moon god Sin (known as Nanna in Sumerian), and thus the brother of the goddess Ishtar (Sumerian: Inanna), who represented the great "star" of Venus. In early inscriptions, Shamash’s consort was the goddess Aya, whose role was gradually merged with that of Ishtar. In later Babylonian astral mythology, Sin, Shamash, and Ishtar formed a major triad of divinities, which still today plays an important role in astrological systems, though under different names.

In addition to being the god of the sun, Shamash was also a god of justice. In some cases, he was seen as the governing the entire universe and was depicted, often with a sun-disk, as a king on his royal throne his staff and signet ring.

Shamash is depicted as overcoming darkness and death. Like the later Apollo, he made his daily journey through the heavens either on horseback, in a chariot, or on a boat. His main cult center in Sumer was the city of Larsa, and in Akkad his main temple was in Sippar.

History and meaning

The name Shamash simply means "sun." Both in early and in late inscriptions Shamash is designated as the "offspring of Nanna," the moon-god. In the Mesopotamian pantheon, Nanna (known as Sin in Akkadian) generally takes precedence of Shamash, since the Moon was both the basis of the calendar and long associated with cattle, which formed an important basis of the Mesopotamian economy of the area from nomadic times. As farming came to the fore the sun god came to play and increasing role.

The two chief centers of sun-worship in Babylonia were Sippar, represented by the mounds at Abu Habba, and Larsa, represented by the modern Senkerah. At both places, the chief sanctuary bore the name E-barra (or E-babbara) meaning " Shining House" in allusion to the brilliance of Shamash. The temple at Sippar was the most famous, but temples to Shamash were erected in all large population centers, including Babylon, Ur, Mari, Nippur, and Nineveh.

In the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh and Enkidu travel to the forest of Lebanon and slay the forest guardian Humbaba, each morning they pray and make libation to Shamash in the direction of the rising sun to ensure their safe travels.

In inscriptions, the attribute most commonly associated with Shamash is justice. Just as the sun disperses darkness, so Shamash brings wrong and injustice to light. King Ur-Engur of the Ur dynasty (c. 2600 B.C.E.) declared that he rendered decisions "according to the just laws of Shamash." Hammurabi attributed to Shamash the inspiration that led him to gather the existing laws and legal procedures into his famous code. In the design accompanying the code, the Hammurabi is represented in an attitude of adoration before Shamash as the embodiment of the idea of justice.

Mesopotamian limestone cylinder seal and impression: worship of Shamash, (Louvre)

Shamash was also regarded also as a god who released sufferers from the grasp of the demons. The sick man, therefore, appealed to Shamash as the god who can be depended upon to help those who are suffering unjustly. This aspect of Shamash is vividly brought out in hymns addressed to him, which are consider among the finest productions in the entire realm of Babylonian literature.

Scholars believe that the tradition of Shamash-worship at Sippar and Larsa eventually overshadowed earlier local sun-deity traditions elsewhere and led to the absorption of these deities by the predominating cult of Shamash. In the mature Babylonian pantheon these minor sun-gods became attendants that in Shamash's service. Included among them are his attendants Kettu ("justice"), Mesharu ("right"), and Bunene, his chariot driver, whose consort is Atgi-makh. Other sun deities such as Ninurta and Nergal, the patron deities of other important centers, retained their independent existences as certain phases of the sun, with Ninurta becoming the god of the morning and springtime, and Nergal the god of the noon and the summer solstice.

Together with Nanna-Sin and Ishtar, Shamash for a triad of gods which completed the even more cosmic trinity of Anu, Enlil and Ea, represent the heavens, earth and water, respectively. The three powers of Sin, Shamash, and Ishtar symbolized three great forces of nature: the sun, the moon, and the morning star. Ishtar also represented love and fertility, and thus the earth. At times instead of Ishtar we find Adad, the storm-god, as the third person of this triad, and it may be that these two sets of triads represent the doctrines of two different schools of theological thought in Babylonia which were subsequently harmonized by the recognition of a group consisting of all four deities. To the West, in Canaan, Shamash became known by the name Shemesh and took on a feminine character with Baal-Hadad playing the predominant role. (see below)

The consort of Shamash was known as Aya. She is, however, rarely mentioned in the inscriptions except in combination with Shamash.

Shamash in Canaanite tradition

Shemesh (Hebrew: שמש‎), also Shapesh (Hebrew: שפש‎) or Shapshu, was the Canaanite goddess of the sun, daughter of El and Asherah.[1] She is known as "torch of the gods"[2] and is considered an important deity in Canaanite pantheon.[3][4] Shemesh's was said to be housed in Beit Shemesh, named after the deity. The Akkadian sun god, Shemesh, was the Mesopotamian male equivalent of the female Canaanite Shemesh.

In the Epic of Ba'al, Shemesh appears mainly as an observer and reactive, favourable to Ba'al.[5] She announces that El supports Yam.[6] After Baal is killed, she helps Anat bury and mourn him,[7] and then stops shining. Following El's dream about the resurrection of Ba'al,[8] El asks Anat to persuade Shemesh to shine again, which she agrees to, but declares that she will continue to search for him.[9] In the battle between Ba'al and Mot, she and threatens Mot that El will intervene in Ba'al's favour, a threat which ends the battle.[10]

In the Tanakh, worshiping Sehemsh is forbidden and is punishable by stoning. Worshiping Shemesh was said to include bowing to the east, in the direction of the sun, as well as rituals related to horses and chariots which were associated with her.[11] The combined worship of Shemesh and Ba'al was said to feature an altar with sun-like shapes.[12] The King Josiah was also said to have abolished sun worship (among others).[13]

Shamash in Judaism

In Mishnaic Hebrew the verb-root for "to serve" is שמש, and the noun-form "servant" is pronounced shamash. The Hanukkah menorah has an extra light, called the shamash, which is used to light the eight proper lights. The shamash is set off from the other lights, so as not to be mistaken for one of their number.

In Yiddish, a shammesh or shammess is an attendant, caretaker, custodian, or synagogue janitor. The slang term "shamus" for a private detective derives from this usage.

The Hebrew words which express the concept of "servant" are entirely unrelated to the Akkadian theophoric name "Shamash" but are loanwords from the ancient Egyptian "sh-m-s" which originally meant "follower" in either a religious or a military sense.

This is the glyph used to represent the Egyptian word for follower - shemes (Gardiner Signlist code T18).

See also

• The Utukku
• Samson
• Bull man

External links

• Symbols.com description of Shamash symbol

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