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| Primordial beings | |
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| 7 Gods who Decree | |
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Shamash was the common Akkadian name of the sun-god and god of justice in Babylonia and Assyria, corresponding to Sumerian Utu. Ancient Semitic religion spans the Polytheistic religions of the Semitic speaking peoples of the Ancient Near East. The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian Akkadian Assyrian and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris In the Levantine pantheon the Elohim are the sons of El the ancient of days (olam assembled on the divine holy place Mount Zephon ( Jebel This is a sub-article to Pre-Islamic Arabia Arabian mythology comprises the ancient Pre-Islamic beliefs of the Arabs Prior to the Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding The Anunna are the fifty great gods of Sumerian mythology. Some of them are associated with specific cities while others bear a strong resemblance to the functions of patron The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the earliest known works of literary fiction. In Sumerian mythology, the utukku were a type of Spirit or Demon that could be either benevolent or evil Babylonian mythology is a set of stories depicting the activities of Babylonian deities, Heroes and Mythological creatures While these stories Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian Akkadian Assyrian and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris In Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians Anu (also An; (from Sumerian *An = sky heaven was a sky-god Enlil ( EN = Lord + LIL = Loft "Lord of the Open" or "Lord of the Wind" was the name of a chief deity listed and written about in ancient Sumerian In Sumerian mythology, Ninhursag (NINURSAG was the earth and mother- Goddess, one of the seven great deities of Sumer. Enki ( Sumerian: dENKI(G 𒂗𒆠 was a Deity in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology Ishtar ( D IŠTAR 𒀭𒌋𒁯 is the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to Sin (Akkadian Sîn, Suen; Sumerian Nanna) is a Sumerian God in Mesopotamian mythology. "Sun god" redirects here For the Ramsey Lewis album see Sun Goddess (album. Babylon was a City-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian Akkadian Assyrian and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris This article refers to the Sumerian Deity. For other uses see Utu (disambiguation.
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History and meaning
The name simply means "sun". Both in early and in late inscriptions Sha-mash is designated as the "offspring of Nannar," i. Sin (Akkadian Sîn, Suen; Sumerian Nanna) is a Sumerian God in Mesopotamian mythology. e. of the moon-god, and since, in an enumeration of the pantheon, Sin generally takes precedence of Shamash, it is in relationship, presumably, to the moon-god that the sun-god appears as the dependent power. Sin (Akkadian Sîn, Suen; Sumerian Nanna) is a Sumerian God in Mesopotamian mythology. Such a supposition would accord with the prominence acquired by the moon in the calendar and in astrological calculations, as well as with the fact that the moon-cult belongs to the nomadic and therefore earlier stage of civilization, whereas the sun-god rises to full importance only after the agricultural stage has been reached. A Civilization is a society in which large numbers of people share a variety of common elements The two chief centres of sun-worship in Babylonia were Sippar, represented by the mounds at Abu Habba, and Larsa, represented by the modern Senkerah. Sippar ( Sumerian Zimbir "bird city" modern Tell Abu Habbah, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian and later Babylonian Sippar ( Sumerian Zimbir "bird city" modern Tell Abu Habbah, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian and later Babylonian Larsa (also Larag or Larak, modern Tell as-Senkereh, Iraq, possibly the Biblical Ellasar) was an important city of At both places the chief sanctuary bore the name E-barra (or E-babbara) "the shining house" – a direct allusion to the brilliancy of the sun-god. Of the two temples, that at Sippara was the more famous, but temples to Shamash were erected in all large centres – such as Babylon, Ur, Mari, Nippur and Nineveh. Babylon was a City-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq Ur ( Sumerian:urim; Akkadian: ?) is modern Tell el-Mukayyar, Iraq, and was a city in ancient Sumer. Mari (modern Tell Hariri, Syria) was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Nippur (URUENLIL; Sumerian: Nibru Akkadian: Nibbur) from the Sumerian for 'lord wind' (Enlil is modern ? in Afak Al Qadisyah Nineveh ( Akkadian: Ninua; Aramaic: ܢܝܢܘܐ Hebrew נינוה Nīnewē; Arabic نينوى Naīnuwa) Another reference to Shamash is the Babylonian epic Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was the son of Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk (Early Dynastic II first dynasty of Uruk ruling circa 2600 BC according to the Sumerian king When Gilgamesh and Enkidu travel to slay Humbaba, each morning they pray and make libation to shamash in the direction of the rising sun for safe travels. First Tablet Enkidu is the quintessential savage person in the beginning of the epic The whole of his body was hairy and his (uncut locks were like a woman's or the hair of In Akkadian mythology Humbaba (Assyrian spelling or Huwawa ( Babylonian) was a monstrous giant of immemorial age raised by Utu, the
The attribute most commonly associated with Shamash is justice. Just as the sun disperses darkness, so Shamash brings wrong and injustice to light. Hammurabi attributes to Shamash the inspiration that led him to gather the existing laws and legal procedures into a code, and in the design accompanying the code the king represents himself in an attitude of adoration before Shamash as the embodiment of the idea of justice. Hammurabi ( Akkadian from Amorite ˤAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer" from ˤAmmu, "paternal kinsman" and Rāpi Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Several centuries before Hammurabi, Ur-Engur of the Ur dynasty (c. Ur-Nammu (or Ur-Namma, Ur-Engur, Ur-Gur, ca 2112-2095 BC Middle chronology) founded the Sumerian 3rd dynasty of Ur 2600 BC) declared that he rendered decisions "according to the just laws of Shamash. The 26th century BC is a Century which lasted from the year 2600 BC to 2501 BC "
It was a logical consequence of this conception of the sun-god that he was regarded also as the one who released the sufferer from the grasp of the demons. The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France The sick man, therefore, appeals to Shamash as the god who can be depended upon to help those who are suffering unjustly. This aspect of the sun-god is vividly brought out in the hymns addressed to him, which are, therefore, among the finest productions in the entire realm of Babylonian literature. It is evident from the material at our disposal that the Shamash cults at Sippar and Larsa so overshadowed local sun-deities elsewhere as to lead to an absorption of the minor deities by the predominating one. In the systematized pantheon these minor sun-gods become attendants that do his service. Such are Bunene, spoken of as his chariot driver, whose consort is Atgi-makh, Kettu ("justice") and Mesharu ("right"), who are introduced as servitors of Shamash. Other sun-deities, as Ninurta and Nergal, the patron deities of important centres, retained their independent existence as certain phases of the sun, Ninib becoming the sun-god of the morning and of the spring time, and Nergal the sun-god of the noon and of the summer solstice, while Shamash was viewed as the sun-god in general. Ninurta ( Nin Ur: Lord of the Earth/Plough in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology was the god of Nippur, identified with Ningirsu The name Nergal (or Nirgal, Nirgali) refers to a Deity in Babylonia with the main seat
Together with Sin and Ishtar, Shamash forms a second triad by the side of Anu, Enlil and Ea. Sin (Akkadian Sîn, Suen; Sumerian Nanna) is a Sumerian God in Mesopotamian mythology. Ishtar ( D IŠTAR 𒀭𒌋𒁯 is the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to In Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians Anu (also An; (from Sumerian *An = sky heaven was a sky-god Enlil ( EN = Lord + LIL = Loft "Lord of the Open" or "Lord of the Wind" was the name of a chief deity listed and written about in ancient Sumerian Enki ( Sumerian: dENKI(G 𒂗𒆠 was a Deity in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology The three powers, Sin, Shamash and Ishtar, symbolized the three great forces of nature, the sun, the moon and the life-giving force of the earth. At times, instead of Ishtar, we find Adad, the storm-god, associated with Sin and Shamash, 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. This article is about the Sumerian god Adad also known as Ishkur.
The consort of Shamash was known as Aya. Aya (or Aja in Akkadian mythology was a Mother goddess, consort of the sun god Shamash. She, however, is rarely mentioned in the inscriptions except in combination with Shamash.
This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica
Shamash in Judaism
- See also: Gabbai
In Mishnaic Hebrew the verb-root for "to serve" is שמש, and the noun-form "servant" is pronounced shamash. A Gabbai ( גבאי) (or sometimes Shamash שמש} is a person who assists in the running of a Synagogue and ensures that the needs are met for example The Hanukkah menorah has an extra light, called the shamash, which is used to light the eight proper lights. Hanukkah Menorah ( Hebrew: מנורה menorah) (also חַנֻכִּיָּה Hanukiah, or Chanukkiyah, pl 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. [1]
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).
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The Macquarie Dictionary is a Dictionary of Australian English. In Sumerian mythology, the utukku were a type of Spirit or Demon that could be either benevolent or evil Samson, Shimshon ( Hebrew: שמשון, Standard Šimšon Tiberian Šimšôn; meaning The Sumerian word lama, which is rendered in Akkadian as lamassu, refers to a beneficient protective female deityDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic