Editing Shamash (section)

==Mythology==
While no myths focused on Utu are presently known, he appears in a supporting role in many well known compositions.{{sfn|Krebernik|2011|p=606}} Commonly other figures appeal to him,{{sfn|Katz|2006|p=105}} especially when faced with problems connected with locations far away from urban centers, such as steppes or mountains.{{sfn|Katz|2006|p=118}}

In multiple accounts of [[Dumuzi]]'s death, he pleads with Utu to save him from the ''[[gallu|galla]]'' demons sent after him.{{sfn|Katz|2006|p=105}} This motif is attested in ''[[Inanna]]'s Descent'', ''Dumuzi's Death'', and other works.{{sfn|Katz|2006|p=106}} In ''Dumuzi and [[Geshtinanna]],'' Utu is specifically invoked as a judge.{{sfn|Katz|2006|p=105}} In all cases, the circumstances leading to it are the same: Dumuzi is already pursued, and his life is in danger.{{sfn|Katz|2006|p=106}} In both ''Dumuzi's Death'' and ''Inanna's Descent'', he argues Utu should help him because he is his [[brother-in-law]].{{sfn|Katz|2006|p=107}} Some copies of the latter narrative also include a couplet in which he also states that he paid respect to Utu's and Inanna's mother, [[Ningal]].{{sfn|Katz|2006|p=107}} While Utu fulfills Dumuzi's request in all known myths about his death, in none of them this is enough to save him, and the most the sun god can accomplish is a delay of his death.{{sfn|Katz|2006|p=110}}

In the myth ''How Grain Came to Sumer'', [[Ninmada]] advises [[Ninazu]] to ask Utu for help with bringing [[barley]] from a distant land.{{sfn|Katz|2006|p=115}} Since the rest of the narrative is not preserved, it is unknown in which way he helped them accomplish this goal.{{sfn|Katz|2006|p=115}}

In the myth ''Inanna and An'', Utu aids his sister with bringing the [[Eanna]] temple down from heaven.{{sfn|Krul|2018|p=11}} It is possible that it served as a mythical explanation of the origin of [[É (temple)|Mesopotamian temples]].{{sfn|Krul|2018|p=12}}

A myth involving the sun god and other deities is known from [[Ebla]].{{sfn|George|2003|p=5}} It might have been imported from [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]], and the language it was written in has been described as "an archaic Akkadian dialect."{{sfn|Krebernik|1992|p=63}} Due to many uncertainties translation and interpretation of this text are considered difficult.{{sfn|Krebernik|1992|p=64}} It has been argued that it might be a description of a meeting between Enki and Utu during the latter's journey through the [[Abzu]].{{sfn|Woods|2004|p=71}}

Shamash is mentioned in a myth which deals with the origin of the god [[Ishum]], which is only known from a single fragment from the Old Babylonian period.{{sfn|George|2015|p=7}} Ishum is described as a son of [[Ninlil]] and the sun god who was abandoned in the streets.{{sfn|George|2015|p=7}} It is assumed that this story represents a relic of the association between the goddess Sud, who came to be identified with Ninlil, and [[Sudaĝ]], one of the names of the wife of Utu.{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=77}} Ishum was usually regarded as the son of this couple instead.{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=77}} Manfred Krebernik considers the composition to be the result of confusion between the names Sud and Sudaĝ, and thus between Ninlil and Ishum's mother, rather than [[syncretism]].{{sfn|Krebernik|2013|p=242}}

In the myth ''[[Enmesharra]]'s Defeat'', which is only known from a single poorly preserved copy from either the [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]] or [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] period,{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=281}}  Shamash's radiance was bestowed upon him by [[Marduk]] after the imprisonment of the eponymous being, who was its original owner.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=293}} The term used to describe it is ''zīmû'' (''zi-mu-ú''), which can refer to a [[Halo (optical phenomenon)|halo]] and possibly to the rays of the sun.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=288}} Wilfred G. Lambert assumed that this scene might be an echo of some of the depictions of fights between gods from [[Sargonic dynasty|Sargonic]] cylinder seals.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=288}}

===Gilgamesh myths===
[[File:Terracotta plaque of Humbaba (Huwawa). From Iraq. Old-Babylonian period 2004-1595 BCE. Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq.jpg|thumb|A depiction of Humbaba. [[Sulaymaniyah Museum]].]]
In the Sumerian myth ''[[Gilgamesh]] and [[Humbaba]]'', [[Enkidu]] tells Gilgamesh that he should ask Utu for permission before they embark on the journey to Humbaba's dwelling.{{sfn|George|2003|p=9}} After learning that Gilgamesh wants to acquire fame because he knows he will not live forever, Utu grants him seven [[constellations]] (described as [[Zoomorphism|zoomorphic]] creatures{{sfn|George|2003|p=306}}) meant to guide him to his destination safely.{{sfn|George|2003|p=9}} Humbaba later tries pleading with Utu when he is about to die, but his prayer is unsuccessful.{{sfn|George|2003|p=10}} It is possible that in a slightly divergent version of the myth he was spared, though this remains uncertain as its ending is not preserved.{{sfn|George|2003|p=11}}

In another early Gilgamesh narrative, ''Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld'', Utu is first referenced by Inanna, who asks Gilgamesh to help her with getting rid of creatures infesting a tree she planted on the bank of the [[Euphrates]].{{sfn|George|2003|p=13}} She states that Utu refused to intervene.{{sfn|Gadotti|2014|p=5}} The reasoning behind his decision is not explained.{{sfn|Gadotti|2014|p=40}} Later, when Enkidu is confined in the underworld, Gilgamesh petitions Enki for help.{{sfn|George|2003|p=13}} The latter tells Utu to bring Enkidu's shade with him when he rises, which lets the heroes temporarily reunite.{{sfn|George|2003|p=13}} A retelling of this episode is also known from the final tablet of the "Standard Babylonian" ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', which has no direct connection to the rest of this version of the story.{{sfn|George|2003|pp=528-529}} An old erroneous view was that the god acting on Ea's (Enki's) command in this version is [[Nergal]] rather than Shamash.{{sfn|George|2003|p=529}}

In the Old Babylonian version of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', Gilgamesh prays to Shamash after deciding to venture to the [[Cedar Forest]] to vanquish Humbaba.{{sfn|George|2003|p=203}} Later the elders of [[Uruk]] tell him to dig wells to be able to make libations to the sun god and [[Lugalbanda]] (in this version functioning as his personal god{{sfn|George|2003|p=213}}) while traveling westwards.{{sfn|George|2003|p=94}} On the way, shortly before reaching the land of Ebla, Gilgamesh has a dream which Enkidu interprets as a sign that Shamash (or, in a variant from [[Shaduppum|Tell Harmal]], Shamash and Lugalbanda{{sfn|George|2003|p=251}}) views his efforts favorably.{{sfn|George|2003|p=235}} It is possible that in one of the variants of the Old Babylonian version, only known from Tell Harmal, Humbaba says that he was informed by Shamash in a dream that he will be vanquished, though the state of preservation of the tablet makes it impossible to determine this with certainty.{{sfn|George|2003|p=253}} According to a tablet presumed to originate in Sippar, Gilgamesh later encounters Shamash while wandering in the steppe mourning Enkidu's death.{{sfn|George|2003|p=273}} The sun god warns him about the futility of the quest for eternal life.{{sfn|George|2003|p=273}} This passage is not present in any later versions,{{sfn|George|2003|p=273}} but Shamash's advice closely parallels another unique scene from the same version, namely the advice given by the anonymous [[Alewife (trade)|alewife]]{{sfn|George|2003|p=275}} who corresponds to [[Siduri|Šiduri]] from the Standard Babylonian version.{{sfn|George|2003|p=148}}

In the Standard Babylonian version of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' Shamash is portrayed as Gilgamesh's divine patron.{{sfn|George|2003|p=801}} He is still invoked to protect him on the way to Humbaba's forest, but the hero does not pray to him on his own.{{sfn|George|2003|p=459}} Instead his mother, the goddess [[Ninsun]], invokes the sun god on the roof of her own temple.{{sfn|George|2003|p=459}} She blames Shamash for Gilgamesh's desire to venture into distant lands, and asks his wife Aya to intercede on her son's behalf to guarantee his safety.{{sfn|George|2003|pp=459-460}} During the confrontation with Humbaba, Shamash intervenes by sending thirteen winds to incapacitate the monster, which lets Gilgamesh strike the decisive blow.{{sfn|George|2003|p=468}} [[Andrew R. George]] notes that since this version describes Humbaba as ''mimma lemnu'', a term which can be translated as "everything evil" or "an evil thing," often found in exorcistic literature where it refers to hostile forces, it is natural for Shamash, who was the god of justice, to oppose him.{{sfn|George|2003|p=812}} In an earlier interpretation, Jeffrey Tigay argued that Shamash outright becomes the instigator of the quest, which according to him was the "final and logical development of his role."{{sfn|Tigay|2002|page=79}} However, according to George Shamash's participation in the slaying of Humbaba is the realization of the requests from Ninsun's prayer.{{sfn|George|2003|p=826}} In the same version of the composition, after the defeat of the [[Bull of Heaven]] Gilgamesh and Enkidu offer the animal's heart to Shamash,{{sfn|Krul|2018|p=168}} which might be a reference to a custom also mentioned in one of the myths about Lugalbanda, in which he offers the heart of a mundane wild bull to Utu after a successful hunt.{{sfn|George|2003|p=476}} After celebrations of their victory, Enkidu has a dream vision of an argument between gods during which Shamash protests [[Enlil]]'s decision that one of the heroes has to die as punishment for the slaying of Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven.{{sfn|George|2003|p=478}} After waking up he laments that they dedicated a door made from the cedar wood from Humbaba's forest to Enlil rather than Shamash.{{sfn|George|2003|p=478}}

In the [[flood myth]] which became part of the standard version of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', Shamash is responsible for announcing the beginning of the flood when he rises in the morning, which according to Nathan Wasserman represents a relatively young tradition, as in most of the other versions the cataclysm starts in the middle of the night.{{sfn|Wasserman|2020|p=124}} He suggests that most likely the compiler of the text found this to be suitable given the sun god's role as humanity's helper through the story.{{sfn|Wasserman|2020|p=124}}