Shamash

Šamaš ( Shamash ) was in the Akkadian and Babylonian mythology, the sun god, the god of justice and divination. It corresponded to the god Utu of the Sumerians. Similar to the god Ninurta, there are indications that this was originally a female deity. Therefore Šamaš can certainly be described in registered securities as " Mother". Only when meeting with the Sumerian culture at the beginning of Akkadzeit and equating Šamaš with the Sumerian sun god Utu was a male god from the female sun. His symbol was the solar disk with mostly achtstrahligem star and wavy rays, sun rays on his shoulders, the lion and the saw. He is often depicted as he rises in the sky between the mountains, the saw in his hand, with which he has worked its way out of the mountains.

Genealogy

Šamaš was the son of the moon god Nanna / Sin. With the goddess Aja ( Anunitu ) Šamaš begat sons Mešaru ( Mišaru ) and Kettu ( Kittu ), the personification of law and justice and his constant companions. More children are the dream gods Mamu and Ziqiqu ( Sisig ), and Išum with Ninlil.

History

Šamaš was in the Babylonian pantheon never a major god. Unlike other gods, it occurs only in a few myths. His main sanctuary was the temple E- Babbar in Sippar, but there were also temples that he is with other gods, such as the moon god Nanna had to share in Ashur. As a sun god who could see everything and the darkness defeated, he was regarded as a God of justice and the judiciary. Accordingly, Hammurabi had laws on the famous stele depicting the Code of Hammurabi, as he receives the dominion of symbols Šamaš, the god of justice. While Šamaš was in Akkadian and Babylonian times as a mild-mannered God, and only as a judge had special significance Šamaš got in Assyrian times, quite a warlike character and merged partially with the Assyrian god Ashur. In Greco- Roman times Šamaš was popular among the Arab inhabitants of the Syrian oasis city of Palmyra. He was particularly revered by the tribe members of the Bene Zabdibol together with the Arab Raḥhim God in the temple of Al- Lat " mistress of the temple ." In Palmyra Šamaš claimed his place alongside the same time worshiped sun gods Jarḥibol and Malakbel. On several tesserae Šamaš is imaged with the high god of Palmyra, Bel, which underlines its share of the official cult of the temple of Bel.

The root Š - m- š or Sms available in all Semitic languages, for " sun " such as Arabic شمس ( Shams ) or in Hebrew שֶׁמֶשׁ ( Shämäsh )

Mythology

Šamaš came out every day from the mountain Maschu and ascended to heaven. His rays of light penetrated everywhere, which he recognized every secret and every misdeed. In the evening he re-entered the earth and crossed it until the next morning. His symbol was the saw, his sacred number the twenties.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh is the hero Gilgamesh in Šamaš in his fight against the demon Humbaba, sparked by thirteen storm winds against him.