Editing Shamash (section)

===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}}