Editing Shamash (section)

==Iconography==
[[File:Fired clay statue of a seated god, probably Shamash. From Ur, Iraq. Old-Babylonian period, 2000-1750 BCE.jpg|thumb|Fired clay statue of a seated god, probably Shamash. From Ur, Iraq. Old-Babylonian period, 2000-1750 BCE. British Museum]]
Whether referred to as Utu or Shamash, the sun god had identical iconography.{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=616}} Due to distinct attributes, he is considered one of the few Mesopotamian deities who can be identified in art with certainty.{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=173}} Depictions of him are known from many sites, for example Eshnunna, [[Tell al-Rimah]], [[Sippar]], [[Ur]] and [[Susa]].{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=617}} His best attested attributes are a large saw (''šaššaru''){{sfn|Woods|2009|pp=217-218}} and rays of light{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=616}} emanating from his shoulders.{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=180}} The reasons behind associating him with the former are poorly understood, and various interpretations have been proposed, for example that it was a representation of the first ray of sunshine of the day, that it was associated with judgment,{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=619}} perhaps as a weapon used to behead criminals, or that the sun god used it to break through the mountains during his daily journey.{{sfn|Woods|2009|p=218}} Christopher Woods points out that both in Sumerian and Akkadian, judgments had to be "cut" (''kud''/''parāsum''), and therefore considers the association with judgment to be most likely.{{sfn|Woods|2009|p=218}} The saw's presence is often used to identify depictions of gods as Utu.{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=618}} He could also be depicted holding the [[rod-and-ring symbol]], commonly associated with major deities.{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=618}} In some cases he is shown handing them to human rulers.{{sfn|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=271}}

Utu was commonly depicted on [[cylinder seal]]s as early as in the third millennium BCE.{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|pp=616-617}} Multiple motifs recur on them, some not known from textual sources.{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=617}} On seals from the [[Akkadian Empire|Sargonic period]], he could be depicted climbing over two mountains,{{sfn|Woods|2004|p=55}} which has been interpreted as a representation of sunrise.{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=617}} He was also commonly depicted traveling in a boat.{{sfn|Woods|2004|p=71}} This motif is the single best attested type of cylinder seal image from the third millennium BCE, with over fifty examples presently known.{{sfn|Woods|2004|p=71}} Another recurring image is a depiction of Utu, sometimes accompanied by another god, partaking in a battle between deities.{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=617}} The attendant deity is sometimes interpreted as [[Bunene]].{{sfn|Wiggermann|1992|p=153}} In some cases [[Inanna]] is shown watching the battle or partaking in it on Utu's side.{{sfn|Wiggermann|1992|p=153}} It has been suggested that it is a symbolic representation of a conflict between day and night,{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=617}} or that the deities confronted by Utu and his allies are rebellious mountain gods.{{sfn|Wiggermann|1992|p=153}} [[Wilfred G. Lambert]] suggested that in some cases figures from battle scenes with rays emanating from their shoulders might be representations of [[Enmesharra]] rather than the sun god, as in a tradition known from a late myth, Enmesharra's Defeat, he was their original owner.{{sfn|Lambert|2013|p=288}}

In the second millennium BCE, Utu was typically portrayed in front of worshipers, either standing or seated on a throne.{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=618}} One well known example of such an image is a stele of [[Hammurabi]] of [[Babylon]], inscribed with [[Code of Hammurabi|his legal code]].{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=618}}

Anna Kurmangaliev points out that only a single depiction of the sun god in [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] form has been identified among works of art from [[Babylonia]] from the first millennium BCE, the so-called [[Sun God Tablet]].{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=618}}  It is commonly discussed in scholarship, and has been described as "one of the masterpieces of ancient Near Eastern art."{{sfn|Woods|2004|pp=24-25}} It was discovered by [[Hormuzd Rassam]] in December 1880 during his excavations in [[Abu Habbah]] in modern [[Iraq]].{{sfn|Woods|2004|pp=23-24}} Its discovery subsequently made it possible to identify this site with Sippar.{{sfn|Woods|2004|p=24}} It dates to the  Neo-Babylonian period,{{sfn|Woods|2004|p=32}} but its style has been described as "archaizing,"{{sfn|Woods|2004|p=47}} and most likely was inspired by motifs found in presentation scenes from the [[Ur III period]].{{sfn|Woods|2004|p=49}} It shows three individuals, an intercessory minor goddess (''[[Lamassu|lamma]]'') and two men, possibly the king [[Nabu-apla-iddina]] and the priest Nabu-nadin-shumi, facing Shamash.{{sfn|Woods|2004|p=49}} While other anthropomorphic depictions of the sun god are known from [[Assyria]] from the same period, in Babylonia he came to be usually portrayed in the form of a symbol instead.{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=618}}

The symbolic representation of Utu was the [[sun disc]],{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=618}} typically represented as a four-pointed star with wavy lines placed between the points.{{sfn|Woods|2004|p=50}} It is attested as early as in the Sargonic period, and continued to be represented in art through the rest of history of ancient Mesopotamia.{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=618}} It is well known from [[kudurru]] (boundary stones), where it is typically depicted in the first row of symbols, next to the eight-pointed star representing Inanna (Ishtar) and the crescent representing Nanna (Sin).{{sfn|Seidl|1989|p=74}} Additionally the symbol of a [[winged sun]] came to be associated with the sun god in Assyria in the first millennium BCE.{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|pp=618-619}} Some depictions of it add a bird tail as well.{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=619}} It only arrived in Babylonia during the reign of [[Nabonidus]].{{sfn|Kurmangaliev|2011|p=619}}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="100">
File:Ea (Babilonian) - EnKi (Sumerian).jpg|Detail of a cylinder seal from [[Sippar]] (2300 BC) depicting Shamash with rays rising from his shoulders and holding a saw-toothed knife with which he cuts his way through the mountains of the east at dawn ([[British Museum]])
File:P1050763 Louvre code Hammurabi face rwk.JPG|A stele of Hammurabi depicting Shamash (right)
File:Mesopotamian - Cylinder Seal with a Deity Accepting an Offering - Walters 42713.jpg|[[First Babylonian dynasty|Old Babylonian]] cylinder seal impression depicting Shamash surrounded by worshippers ({{circa}} 1850-1598 BC)
File:Cylinder seal Shamash Louvre AO9132.jpg|Mesopotamian limestone cylinder seal and impression showing people worshipping Shamash ([[Musée du Louvre|Louvre]])
File:Shamash.jpg|Male figure in an Assyrian [[winged sun]] emblem (Northwest Palace of [[Nimrud]], 9th century BC).
File:Star of Shamash.png|Star of Shamash
File:Detail, upper part. Kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125-1104 BCE. British Museum.jpg|The solar symbol of Shamash (right) on a [[kudurru]], with the [[star of Ishtar]] on the left and a [[crescent]] of [[Sin (mythology)|Sin]].
File:Flag of the Assyrians (gold and blue Assur).svg|The star symbol of Shamash with wavy rays used as a symbol of the [[Assyrian people]] in the [[Assyrian flag]].
File:Iraq state emblem CoA 1959-1965 Qassem.svg|A modern use in the emblem of [[Iraqi Republic (1958–1968)|Iraq 1959-1965]], avoiding [[pan-Arab]] symbolism, merging the star of Shamash and the star of Ishtar.
</gallery>