Utu is the Sumerian god associated with the Sun and divine justice.
Utu was believed to see everything during his daily journey across the sky. That all-seeing quality made him a fitting divine guardian of truth, judgment, and justice. He could expose wrongdoing and protect people who appealed to legitimate order.
His Akkadian counterpart was Šamaš, one of the most important gods in later Mesopotamian religion. Utu was also connected with the city of Larsa and had an important cult at Sippar, where Šamaš was worshipped in the Akkadian tradition.
Utu is sometimes confused with Nanna, the Moon god. In Mesopotamian mythology they belong to the same divine family in many traditions, but Utu’s defining celestial association is the Sun, not the Moon.