English

Mesopotamian Sun God Shamash ; Assyrian Relief, North-West Palace of Nimrud (room B, panel 23) ; 865–860 BC.

Alternative forms

• Šamaš

Proper noun

Shamash

1. The common Akkadian name of the sun god and god of justice in Babylonia and Assyria, corresponding to Sumerian Utu.

English

Noun

shamash ‎(plural shamashim)

1. (Judaism) The candle used to light the other eight candles of a Hanukkah menorah.
2. A sexton in a synagogue.
   • 1997, Michael Stivelman, The Death March

     Until 1890, when the local Chevra Kadisha (a traditional Jewish funerary society) was set up, funeral services were performed by the shamashim, the beadles of the synagogues.

Translations

Related terms

• shammes