Shemesh (Canaanite goddess)

Shemesh ( _he. שמש), also Shapesh ( _he. שפש) or Shapshu, was the Canaanite goddess of the sun, daughter of El and Asherah. [ [http://home.comcast.net/~chris.s/canaanite-faq.html#Shapshu Canaanite/Ugaritic Mythology FAQ, ver. 1.2] ] She is known as "torch of the gods" ["KTU" 1.2.xv and xxii] and is considered an important deity in Canaanite pantheon. [ [http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/shapash.html Entry at "The Obscure Goddess Online Dictionary"] ] [For example, "Baal, Anat, Mot, and Shemesh/Shapshu, as well as lesser-known deities" are seen as "upper-level management" in Lowell K. Handy's "Among the Host of Heaven: The Syro-Palestinian Pantheon As Bureaucracy" (Eisenbrauns, 1994; ISBN 978-0931464843). That is, ranking below the "owners," El and Asherah, "they run day-to-day affairs and are, in practical terms, sovereigns" — Quoted from the [http://www.asor.org/pubs/basor/297.html#Handy book review] by Steve A. Wiggins, "ASOR Bulletin", No. 297, (February 1995); p. 94] Shemesh's was said to be housed in Beit Shemesh, named after the deity. The Akkadian sun god, Shemesh, was the Mesopotamian male equivalent of the female Canaanite Shemesh.

Epic of Ba'al

In the Epic of Ba'al, Shemesh appears mainly as an observer and reactive, favourable to Ba'al. [Smith, Mark S. [http://books.google.com/books?id=S1tQ5Larst0C&dq=Shapshu&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 "The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and Ugaritic Texts"] , Oxford University Press (2001), p. 127; ISBN 019513480X] She announces that El supports Yam. ["KTU". 1.2.III] After Baal is killed, she helps Anat bury and mourn him, ["KTU". 1.6.I] and then stops shining. Following El's dream about the resurrection of Ba'al, [ Smith, Mark S. [http://books.google.com/books?id=jlfx4YwtaVkC&dq=Shapshu&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 "The Ugaritic Baal Cycle: Volume I."] , Brill Publishers (1994), p.257; ISBN 9004099956] El asks Anat to persuade Shemesh to shine again, which she agrees to, but declares that she will continue to search for him. ["KTU". 1.6.III] In the battle between Ba'al and Mot, she and threatens Mot that El will intervene in Ba'al's favour, a threat which ends the battle. ["KTU". 1.6.VI]

In the Tanakh

In the Tanakh, worshiping Sehemsh is forbidden and is punishable by stoning. Worshiping Shemesh was said to include bowing to the east, in the direction of the sun, as well as rituals related to horses and chariots which were associated with her. ["Deuteronomy". 4-19 and 17-3] The combined worship of Shemesh and Ba'al was said to feature an altar with sun-like shapes. ["Books of Chronicles". 34-4] The King Josiah was also said to have abolished sun worship (among others). ["Books of Kings". 23-4]

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