Below, the sun-god Shamash seated on a throne whose surface has two half human bull men (9 th century BCE, Sippar).
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu the wild _naked_ man who has only wild animals for companions in the steppe near Uruk called edin, curses the harlot priestess for "robbing him of his innocence" and setting off a chain of events culminating his soon to transpire demise or death at the command of the god Enlil. The sun-god Shamash intervenes and berates Enkidu for his cursing of Shamhat and in this dialogue Shamash speaks of Shamhat as being "his harlot," suggesting to me that she is a servant of Shamash. Shamash enumerates the good done to Enkidu by the harlot-priestess and a shamed Enkidu withdraws his curse and thereupon pronounces a blessing for her.
I understand that Enkidu's curse was transformed by the Hebrews into Yahweh cursing Eve in the garden of Eden (A naked Enkidu being a prototype of a naked Adam). In the original story, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the female's actions were APPROVED by her god, who came to her defense. In the Hebrew recasting of this motif, a God, Yahweh, curses the woman for robbing Adam of his innocence.
I thus understand that Shamash the sun-god is one of several prototypes lurking behind Genesis' portrayal of Yahweh-Elohim. ( for photo cf. p. 164. Paolo Matthiae. Geschichte der Kunst im Alten Orient: Die Grossreiche der Assyrer, Neubabylonier und Achaemeniden, 1000-330 von Christ. Konrad Theiss Verlag GmbH Stuttgart 1999. ISBN 3-8062-1437-9)
