Shamash
The triliteral root shīn mīm sīn (ش م س) occurs in the Quran 33 times.
Shamash, (Akkadian), Sumerian Utu, in Mesopotamian religion, the god of the sun, who, with the moon god, Sin (Sumerian: Nanna), and Ishtar (Sumerian: Inanna), the goddess of Venus, was part of an astral triad of divinities. Shamash was the son of Sin.
Shamash, as the solar deity, exercised the power of light over darkness and evil. In this capacity he became known as the god of justice and equity and was the judge of both gods and men. (According to legend, the Babylonian king Hammurabi received his code of laws from Shamash). At night, Shamash became judge of the underworld.
Shamash is often pictured with a disk that symbolized the Sun.
As the god of the sun, Shamash was the heroic conqueror of night and death who swept across the heavens on horseback or, in some representations, in a boat or chariot. He bestowed light and life. Because he was of a heroic and wholly ethical character, he only rarely figured in mythology, where the gods behaved all too often like mortals. The chief centres of his cult were at Larsa in Sumer and at Sippar in Akkad. Shamash’s consort was Aya, who was later absorbed by Ishtar.
In The Quran
(27:24) "I found her and her people prostrating to Shamash (Arab. لِلشَّمْسِ, lilshamsi) instead of God! The devil had made their work appear good to them, so he kept them away from the path, for they are not being guided."
