Shapash is the Phoenician (Ugaritic)/Canaanite sun-goddess, daughter of El and Asherah, called the "Torch of the gods", or "Pale Shapash".
The goddess of the sun is frequently dispatched on errands by El or Anat, acting as their messenger or herald.
Much like Hermes, the Greek messenger-god, She is also a psychopomp who leads souls into or out of the Underworld.
The idea of the Sun as a traveller to the Underworld is known from other cultures such as Egypt, where in their legends the Sun journeys each night through the land of the dead (or the back/dark side of the world) to emerge once more in the East...
Shapash helps Anath in her retrieval of the dead husband Baal and intervenes in the final conflict between Baal and Mot...
Like Her daughter 'Um Pachal, Shapash can cure the venom of snake bites, which is compared to the darkness or mists that the rising sun dispells...
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See Ba'al:
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