Utu's Appearance
Utu is the Sumerian god of the sun and the god of justice. He is therefore often depicted as a radiant and righteous god. He is usually depicted as a bearded man. As he is the brother of Inanna, he is depicted here at the age of 25, just like her.
Utu's Personality
Utu is considered fair and impartial, truthful and honest. He protects the rights of mankind. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, he shows courage and determination in asserting the interests of mankind.
Utu's Duties as a God
Utu travels across the sky with the sun every day, bringing light and warmth to the earth. From up there, he sees everything that people do. He rules as a judge in disputes and ensures that divine and human laws are adhered to. He exposes lies and deceptions by penetrating everything with his light. Through his regular and reliable journey across the sky, he symbolizes order and stability in the universe. He protects people's interests and is often seen as a helping and guiding force that assists people in difficult situations.
The Career of Utu
Utu is the god of the sun, but not the sun itself. This can be seen from the fact that the sun is already mentioned as a celestial body in the myth Enki and Ninhursag, at a time when Utu had not yet been born.
In the myth Nanna and Ningal it is stated that Utu is the son of Nanna and Ningal and the brother of Inanna. At his birth, his mother Ningal prophesied his later work as a god:
"I will name him Utu, the sun, the light of day, which will illuminate all worlds with clarity."
Although Utu is the god of justice, one of his first acts was to help his sister Inanna steal the E-ana temple of An and bring it to earth to Uruk. This is described in the myth Inanna and An. Utu certainly helped Inanna not only because she was his sister, but also because he saw that this was in the interests of humanity.
In the myth Enki and the World Order, Enki confirms what Utu's tasks are:
"To judge the earth and the heavens: Enki entrusted Utu, the god of the sun and justice, with this task. He commissioned him, the hero, the bull who came from the cedar forest of Hashur, who roars like a lion, who stands bold and majestic. Enki entrusted the responsibility to him, the son of Ningal, the father of the great city, the place where the sun rises, the great diplomat of the holy An who looks down from the sacred sky, the judge of the gods who wears a lapis lazuli beard."
The length of the text written here about Utu emphasizes his importance as a god. The great city of which Utu is the father is Sippar. Utu was worshipped as the main god in Sippar, where he also had his temple E-Babbar. The place where the sun rises refers to the "gate of heaven", which the Sumerians imagined to be at the outermost edges of heaven and earth. Utu rises through this divine gate in the east every morning and travels across the sky. At night, he travels through the netherworld or under the earth to rise again in the east the next morning.
Utu embodies his role as the god of justice in the myth Inanna's Descent to the Netherworld when he assists the shepherd god Dumuzi, but also in the Myth of Etana, when he condemns the eagle Anzu, who has deceived the serpent. This shows that Utu is able to weigh up his judgments with regard to their consequences: He did not execute the eagle, but had him thrown into a pit and later freed him from it.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, set around 2600 BCE, Utu helped the hero Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu to defeat the giant Humbaba, who guarded the cedar forest. This shows that Utu values the interests of humans more highly than the interests of the gods, who wanted to establish their abode in the cedar forest. This was also perceived as such by Enlil, who said to Utu:
"O sun god, you helped them to slay the heavenly bull and Humbaba. Therefore Enkidu must die. Did you think it right to help them? You move among them like a mortal."
Utu also had a temple in Larsa, which was extended and enlarged until around 1800 BCE, and the worship of Utu in Larsa continued even after that.
