There is no thiogenic myth that embodies the birth of the sun god from the goddess Ningal and her husband, the moon god.
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| Utu (Shamash)The Sun God in Sumerian mythology |
the mythological belief that the moon is the father of the sun comes from the idea that darkness was the first to dominate the world. From this darkness, light appeared, and things were revealed and distinguished in the daylight. Because the moon represents the first light within the darkness, the absolute light of the sun was considered its son.
During the Babylonian period, the sun god was considered the father of the god Marduk. His name was Amar-utu-K, which means "son of the sun."
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| Utu in his armed winged Sun |
The sun god was known by several names in the Sumerian language, including Utu, Babbar, Gis sir, Zalam, Zalme, Buzer, Man, and Amna. utu was described as having a lapis lazuli beard, a radiant face, and being handsome. He was also depicted as having a long arm, being tall, covered in flashes of light,
utu was described as the guide of all people, the master of divination and prophecy, the revealer of secrets, the organizer of what is in the heavens and the earth, the determiner of destinies, the creator of the universe and the four directions, the king of justice, and the supporter.
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| Utu the Sun God his Wheel of Justice |
It is believed that utu sailed in a boat, as evidenced by his sign in the pictographic stage and the beginning of the Akkadian period. He is also depicted in many cylinder seals as an old man walking between two mountains, crossing the upper world on foot, sometimes in a fiery chariot, and sometimes as a bird, possibly a falcon. The sun god was also called utu-Kagal.
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| Utu Cuts through mountains |
The sacred number of the sun god is 20. utu and Ayya were worshipped in the city of Sippar. utu's temple was known as E-babbar, and Ayya's temple was called E-aidena, meaning "temple of the groves" because she was originally a goddess of greenery. utu was also worshipped in the city of Larsa.
The Sumerian symbols of the sun god can be traced back to the earliest Neolithic times. The Maltese cross symbol appeared since the Hassuna culture in the 5th millennium BC, then in the Samarra and Halaf cultures.
The pictographic sign for the sun was first a cross shape, and the second symbol was a circle that appeared since the Hassuna period. The circle and the Maltese cross appeared in the form of a rose in the Jemdet Nasr period, and the circle turned into the shape of a daisy around 4000 BC. The third symbol is the disc on a pole, which dates back to the Jemdet Nasr period, and the fourth symbol is the star on the back of a spear.
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| symbols of the sun god |
The fifth symbol is the disc with the radiating four-pointed star, which appeared since the time of Mesilim (2800 BC) and was worshipped in the First Dynasty of Ur. The sixth symbol is the sword or serrated saw, which indicates that it cuts through the darkness. The seventh symbol is the symbol of the plow in the Late Early Dynastic period.
The animals that represented utu and accompanied him in the Sumerian period are the lion with a human head, the eagle, the falcon, and the scorpion-man, which appears in front of utu's boat on cylinder seals since the beginning of the third Early Dynastic period.
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| utu-shamash |
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| Utu symbols |
In conclusion, we see that the Sumerian sun god utu laid a large foundation for the Semitic god Shamash, who is an expanded extension of him. If the son of the sun, Marduk, had occupied the position of the greatest god in Babylon, then the god Ashur, who is the god of the horizon, i.e. the sun god, had occupied the position of the greatest god in Assyria.
The one who administers correctly (all) regions (of the world) [(…)],
The tireless one, who watches over all of heaven and netherworld (Nergal’s domain)…
The lord, whose shining light covers mountain and sea,
And whose awe-inspiring sheen covers the wide[spread] world (Sun God Utu),
The noble one at whose utterance the [Igīgū] gods pay attention,
And at the issuing of whose command the Anunnakū gods take fright [(…)],
presenting themselves on their knees (lit. “stand kneeling”),
The august judge, who makes decisions for god and go[ddess],
The one who dwells in Ebabbar (“Shining House”),
the one on whom his fathers rely —
At that time, a royal descendant, one of an enduring lineage, (Nebuchadnezzar I)
scion of Šuanna (Suzianna, Enlil’s junior wife) (Babylon),
Wise viceroy, reverent, prayerful, one who makes his (the Sun-god’s) (Utu) heart glad,
Because the king constantly besought the Sun-god (Utu), the light of the gods, with supplication(s) and prayer(s),
He (the Sun-god) looked happily (upon him)
and gave him the kingship of all people (and) of every region (of the world).
He granted him a just sceptre, an eternal throne, (and) a reign of long duration.
He gave orders to him to plunder the land of Elam and he …
He had been brought to the land of Elam; he turned [it] back (and) inflicted a defeat upon i[t].
The great gods who had become an[gry] with the land of Akkad (and) had gone to the land of Elam
[…] … […] … over the regions (of the world) […]
[May] his reign [be made] great and may it be securely established forever in the land of Sumer and Akk[ad]!