Crossword help. Babylonian god of the sun (5). Clue ???AR?

Answer 1

So is this in the New York Times Sunday crossword or something? (Another user has asked the same question.)

The simple answer is - BABAR ( a Sumerian name for the god the Semitic people called "Shamash" )

Only read on if you want details!
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This is actually kind of sneaky. "Babylonian" is most often used for the Semitic language names (Babylonians spoke 'Akkadian' --sometimes called 'Assyro-Babylonian'-- a distant relative of Semitic languages like Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic). The Akkadian name for the sun god is "Shamash" (or, as subject "Shamshu"), related to Hebrew "Shemesh".

But the earlier inhabitants of lower Mesopotamia (mostly BELOW Babylon) spoke an entirely unrelated language called Sumerian. It was the Sumerians who invented the writing system, and for centuries literate Babylonians ALSO used the Sumerian language. The common *Sumerian* name for the sun god (equivalent of Shamash) was UTU

But there may also have been, according to some interpretations, a more obscure sun god in the Sumerian city of Larsa, named "Babar" . This is based on the fact that a temple has been found in the remains of Larsa, named named E.BABAR, and translated into Akkadian as "Bit Shamash" ('house/temple of Shamash')

Frankly, I'm not entirely sure of this interpretation. BABAR often means "light" (also "bright, cleanm pure") in Sumerian -- E.BABAR could simply be read as "House of Light". And the Akkadian name may not be an exact translation. OR "Babar" might have been not exactly a name of the god, but a *title* ("the Bright One") used for UTU in Larsa (Unfortunately, I don't have any Sumerologist nearby to check with!)

Answer 2

are you sure it's not ????ar, because anshar is the father of the babylonian gods and ishtar is the babylonian goddess of love, fertility and war.