Editing Shamash (section)

==Name==
The two most common names of the sun god used in Mesopotamian texts are [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] Utu and [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] Shamash.{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|p=599}} A further relatively commonly attested name is Amna, whose origin is uncertain.{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|p=600}} The most common writing of the sun god's name was the [[logogram]] <sup>d</sup>UTU, which could be read as Utu, Shamash, or, as attested in the god list ''[[An = Anum]]'', as Amna.{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|p=600}} Syllabic spellings of all three of these names are also known.{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|p=600}} A further logographic spelling used the numeral 20, which was associated with him.{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|p=600}}

===Etymology===
The name Shamash is a cognate of Akkadian terms ''šamšu'' ("sun"){{sfn|Schwemer|2007|p=136}} and ''šamšatu'' ("[[Solar symbol|solar disc]]"), as well as the words referring to sun in other [[Semitic languages]],{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|pp=599-600}} such as [[Arabic]] ''šams'' and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] ''šemeš''.{{sfn|Horry|2013}} The linguistic connection between the name of the god and the corresponding celestial body has been compared to that between [[Adad]] (and Syrian Hadad) and the word ''addu'', "storm."{{sfn|Schwemer|2007|p=136}} The [[Amorite language|Amorite]] form of the name is Samsu, as attested for example in the [[theophoric name]] [[Samsu-iluna]] ("Samsu is our god").{{sfn|Krebernik|2011a|p=616}} The ancient [[Aramaic]] form of the name was most likely Śameš, though many variant syllabic spellings are attested.{{sfn|Krebernik|2011a|p=616}} Additionally, the name for the sun in [[Mandaean cosmology]], [[Shamish]] ([[Mandaic language]]:{{lang|myz|ࡔࡀࡌࡉࡔ}}), is derived from Akkadian Shamash.{{sfn|Bhayro|2020|pp=572-573}}

===Grammatical gender===
Utu was understood as a masculine deity.{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|p=599}} According to Manfred Krebernik, this most likely also resulted in his Akkadian counterpart being viewed as such, even though in the majority of Semitic languages both the word referring to the sun itself and names of solar deities are [[Grammatical gender|grammatically feminine]].{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|p=599}} Julia M. Asher-Greve considers this the oldest attested example of a Mesopotamian deity's gender being impacted by [[syncretism]].{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=60}} However, not all researchers agree with the assumption that the name Shamash was ever understood as referring to a female deity in Akkadian-speaking areas.{{sfn|Woods|2005|p=43}} Christopher Woods argues that the only available evidence are early ambiguous theophoric names, which according to him do not necessarily point at the existence of female Shamash, and might omit [[Preposition and postposition|prepositions]] necessary to identify the gender of the deity invoked in them.{{sfn|Woods|2005|p=43}} Manfred Krebernik notes that a well known example of a female deity in what he deems the "cuneiform cultural sphere" is [[Shapash]].{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|p=599}} At the same time, both the [[Amorites]] and the [[Arameans]] viewed the solar deity as male, like Sumerians and Akkadians.{{sfn|Krebernik|2011a|p=616}}

===Secondary names and epithets===
According to Manfred Krebernik, the name Amna, attested as a synonym of Utu in the god list ''An = Anum'' and used to refer to the sun god in an inscription of [[Nabonidus]], might be either connected to the toponym [[Sippar-Amnanum]] or to a root attested in [[Northwest Semitic languages]], '''-m-n'', which can be translated as "to be reliable" or "to be firm."{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|p=600}}

Dozens of other variant names, epithets or possibly minor deities who came to be seen as synonymous with Utu are attested in god lists.{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|pp=600-601}} Examples include Karkara (possibly related to Ninkar, one of the names of his wife [[Aya (goddess)|Aya]]), Nimindu (possibly related to the name of the goddess [[Nimintabba]]), Si'e ("who shines forth"), Ṣalam (possibly a name referring to a [[winged sun]] symbol) and U'e ("sunrise").{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|p=601}}