The Akkadians

After the Sumerian civilization disappeared, and Hammurabi united the remnants of their civilization with that of the Sumerians. They blended the Sumerian culture and its ideas with their own and formed the Akkadian culture. The Sumerians religious beliefs could still been seen in the Akkadians Triad of great gods. This triad is actually the same as the triad of great gods that the Sumerians believed in, the gods were: An, En-lil, and En-ki. [Symbol of Shamash]

However in the Akkadian religion these gods lost their supremacy to the Astral Triad, which consisted of the gods: Sin (The Moon), Ishtar (Venus), and Shamash (The Sun). The Akkadians began to address themselves directly to the Astral Triad as opposed to the Triad of the great gods. The people especially went to the god, Shamash, who was the Sun god. Over time the Sun became the unrivaled universal divinity and numerous hymns were written to him. It was believed that the Sun god was revered everywhere, he defended justice, punished the wrong doers, and rewarded the just. Light came to be attributed to divinity and the King shined in the divine condition and therefore emanated rays of light.

Throughout the Akkadian period, the role of the Sun god became more influential in human culture and religion, however this was still only the beginning...