This article refers to the Sumerian deity. For other uses, see Utu (disambiguation).

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Utu ("Utu, who sheds a wide light) is the Sumerian for "Sun".^[1] The Sumerian cuneiform character is encoded in Unicode at U+12313 𒌓 (Borger nr. 381). Borger's 381 is U4.^[2]

In Sumerian mythology, Utu is the son of the moon god Nanna and the goddess Ningal. His brother and sisters are Ishkur and Inanna and Erishkigal. (Inanna and Erishkigal were twins)

Utu is the god of the sun and of justice, and the implementation of law. He is usually depicted as wearing a horned helmet and carrying a saw-edged weapon not unlike a pruning saw, which it is thought he used to cut through the side of a mountain from which he emerges, symbolising the dawn. He may also carry a mace and stand with one foot on the mountain.

He rises in "the mountains of the east" and sets in the "mountains of the west".

Sumerian Utu corresponds to Akkadian Shamash.

Marduk is spelled AMAR.UTU in Sumerian, literally, "the calf of Utu" or "the young bull of the Sun".

[edit] earlier form "UD"

"Utu" is actually an Akkadian transmogrification of proper Sumerian "UD".^[3][4] It is common in transforming a Sumerian word into Akkadian to change /D/ to /t/, and the final /-u/ is the Akkadian nominative case-ending.

[edit] References

1. ^ Kasak, Enn; Veede, Raul (2001). Mare Kõiva and Andres Kuperjanov. ed. "Understanding Planets in Ancient Mesopotamia (PDF)". Electronic Journal of Folklore (Estonian Literary Museum) 16: 7–35. ISSN 1406-0957. http://www.folklore.ee/Folklore/vol16/planets.pdf. 
2. ^ http://www.sron.nl/~jheise/signlists/top20.html
3. ^ http://www.sumerian.org/sumlogo.htm s.v. "babbar(2)"
4. ^ Frederick Augustus Vanderbergh : Sumerian Hymns from Cuneiform Texts in the British Museum. Columbia University Press, 1908. p. 53 http://books.google.com/books?id=lk0YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=Sumerian+UD+sun&source=bl&ots=ew7v7u-uGk&sig=ZZ9xA87ULWnNIWlwlpk8ssRn6bY&hl=en&ei=NbXhSq6ALsHj8QaO6ejyAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CA0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Sumerian%20UD%20sun&f=false

• Michael Jordan, Encyclopedia of Gods, Kyle Cathie Limited, 2002

[edit] See also

• The Utukku

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