SHAMASH: ETYMOLOGY, ORIGIN, ATTRIBUTES, DIFFERENT CIVILIZATIONS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Shamash was the name that the God of the sun received in the culture of different civilizations that belonged to Mesopotamia from the year 3,500 BC. C. Specifically in towns like Acadia, Babylon and Assyria. Other peoples, such as the Sumerians, named it as Utu.

Shamash was one of the most important and respected gods of Mesopotamia, in whose honor various temples were erected in which rituals were carried out continuously to request his help and protection.

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The sun disk was one of the most common symbols to represent Shamash.

These rituals included sacrifices of different animals in order to obtain the benevolence of God; Fruits and other food dishes were also placed throughout each day.

The god Shamash was also associated with justice and truth, he was considered a protector against evil spirits and darkness. Shamash was thought to judge both the living and the deceased and interceded for the sick or for those who found themselves in trouble as a result of injustice.

The inhabitants of Mesopotamia constantly asked Shamash to protect them from any disease. They also raised prayers for good harvests, as well as for their permanence in the world.

The way in which the God of the Sun was represented over the years was transformed but one of the symbols that remained was the solar disk. The belief in the power of Shamash over all the earth came to position him in some civilizations as a God whose dominion encompassed the entire universe.

Shamash was such a relevant figure to the Mesopotamian civilization that, in addition to the temples and graphic representations that were created around him, hymns were also created.

One of the greatest contributions of the God Shamash to the people of Mesopotamia was the code of laws that, according to legend, he handed down to King Hammurabi. This code was a complex set of rules that it was claimed had come to him through a messenger for transmission to the people of Babylon.

The tradition of the rulers in Mesopotamian civilizations was to base their decisions on the designs and wills of the gods, whom they used to consult before making any decision.

Etymology

The word Shamash has its etymological origin in Mesopotamia, where this term was used to refer to the God of the sun, of justice and of truth.

The original term was Šamaš, which for the Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian peoples was synonymous with the God who, in addition to the sun, ruled the Universe.

Another name by which the God was known was Utu, used by the Sumerians, whose term has its etymological root in the word Dutu.

Origin of the god Shamash

On the existence of the God of the Sun there are representative images that date from 3,500 a. C, which coincides with the establishment of the Mesopotamian civilization. This civilization was characterized by having a marked social, political and religious order in which different gods stood out, which were venerated and feared by many.

Shamash, God of the Sun, was a deity of great relevance in Mesopotamia, who was represented by the figure of a solar disk. This deity was also associated with the administration of justice in the world as well as in the underworld, to which he went at night in order to judge the deceased.

According to the mythology of the Arcadian people, Shamash, was the son of Enlil or Anu, known as the God of the Heavens, while for the Sumerians he represented the earth and the air.

Shamash was the husband of the goddess Aya (called Sherida by the Sumerians), who is associated with the dawn or with the bright light of the sun at dawn, a union from which 2 children were born who represented law and justice.

The Sumerians believed that Utu, as they called Shamash, was the son of Nanna, God of the Moon, and twin brother of the Goddess of love and war known as Inanna.

Attributes of the god Shamash

There are several attributes with which Shamash was represented; in its origins it was associated with the image of a solar disk to represent it. This disk represented in its interior a kind of star that was related to the four cardinal points (North, South, East and West) and between them other lines of curve shape were reflected.

With the passage of time the way of representing Shamash changed more, the image of the solar disk is repeated in many of the sculptures that were made in his honor.

The reference to the last attributes with which the image of the Sun God was illustrated in Mesopotamia can be seen in the Tablet of Shamash, in which he is shown as a man with a long beard.

The attributes that are shown of the so-called God of the sun are the solar disk, associated with the governing element, a ring and a rod or staff that symbolize the justice that represents Shamash.

Conception of the Sun God in Mesopotamia

Shamash, was venerated by Mesopotamian peoples such as the Babylonians, the Assyrians and the Akkadians, to whom they attributed the protection of the cities, among other functions. He was also honored with other names, although history has reflected how he kept certain similarities between one people and another.

The differences in conception between one civilization and another revolved around the name assigned to God and his origin, that is, his provenance.

For each of the cultures the name of the wife of the Sun God was different, although not her function as Goddess. However, despite the differences, there were similarities in the attributes, as well as in the way of representing him.

Regarding the ways to pay homage to the God of the Sun, in each of the main civilizations of Mesopotamia temples were built in which rituals were carried out continuously to attend to the deity.

Among the practices that were carried out in the temples, animal sacrifices were made in his honor. In addition, they were fed fruits and other gastronomic offerings.

The God of the Sun in different civilizations

In a similar way as in Mesopotamia, in other civilizations with which there was no type of contact, the worship of the Sun God developed as a spiritual belief.

For the first civilizations that inhabited the planet, natural phenomena and the celestial stars represented supernatural figures or deities that they feared in principle.

The infinite power of nature led them to invoke and create myths in relation to the Gods who ruled the earth and the sky to protect them and allow them to continue occupying the spaces in which they had settled.

In Egyptian culture, for example, in some civilizations, the sun represented a deity known as Ra, who was associated with the source of life. This god, according to mythology, traveled at night by boat through an underground river and in the morning he returned to protect men and provide them with light. In the Aztec culture, homage was also paid to the Sun, being one of its main gods.

Characteristics of the god Shamash

According to mythology, it was stated that Shamash traveled through the skies in order to protect the world, although in the early days it was said that he traveled by boat.

With the passage of time it was represented on a horse and finally it was affirmed that the vehicle he used to transport himself was a carriage.

Mythology narrated how each day Shamash moved through the skies with a knife in his hand to break through. One of its functions was to protect the world from the spirits of the underworld that could enter through portals and take over people.

In relation to knowledge, Shamash was able to know everything that happened. For this reason, men avoided telling lies for fear of punishment that they could obtain from the god.

A belief in the settlers was maintained that maintained that Shamash withdrew from the world every day at dusk from the East, went down to the underworld where he acted as judge and at dawn entered from the West.

As a god, Shamash, despite showing himself as a just and protective character, was feared by the villagers, who constantly prayed for his indulgence.

References

1. Ancient pages. (2016). Shamash: Mesopotamian God of Sun, Truth, Justice and Healing. Taken from ancientpages.com
2. Beckman, G, (2003). My Sun-God. Reflections of Mesopotamian Conceptions of Kingship among the Hittites. University of Michigan.
3. Ilce Digital Library. The sun in ancient religions and in Mythology. Taken from Bibliotecadigitalilce.edu
4. Encyclopedia Britannica. Shamash. Mesopotamian God. Taken from britannica.com
5. Gods, Goddesess, Demonds and Monsters. Taken from Mesopotamia.co
6. Romero, R, F, (2.018). Most important Mesopotamian gods. Taken from unprofesor.com
7. Utu. Taken from en.wikipedia.org