He was chiefly regarded as the tutelary deity of this area, responsible for agriculture, animal husbandry, and irrigation, but he could also be characterized as a divine warrior.

While the original etymology of Shara's name is unknown, according to Fabienne Huber Vuillet, in Akkadian it was reinterpreted as a derivative of the word šārum, "wind.

"[11] It is first attested in an inscription of Bara-irnun, the wife of Giššakidu of Umma,[11] who reigned in the Early Dynastic period, most likely as a contemporary of Enannatum II and Enentarzi of the First Dynasty of Lagash.

[12] Textual sources also mention the existence of a ziggurat dedicated to him which bore the name Sigkuršaga,[6] "brick, mountain of the heart.

AKA-sal (reading of the first half of the name uncertain) and Anzu-babbar (part of the territory which was an object of conflicts between Umma and nearby Lagash) are particularly well attested.

"[22] Clergy of Shara is well attested, and included various types of priests, as well as purification specialists, singers, flutists and snake charmers.

[23] Evidence regarding this group is scarce, but according to Tonia Sharlach they were most likely expected to remain unmarried, and were recruited chiefly from among daughters of lesser clergy, clerks of the state administration, animal husbandry specialists and even farmers.

[24] She considers it possible that they were similar to naditu of Shamash and Aya from Sippar, but admits not enough data is available to make a definite statement regarding their role.

[25] In the past it was also assumed that a temple of Shara existed in Tell Agrab, despite the location of this settlement making his presence in the local pantheon implausible, but Gianni Marchesi and Nicolo Marchetti suggest that the excavated house of worship might have belonged to the local god Iluma'tim, while the theonym written as dLAGABxIGI-gunû on a fragment of a vase from the same site is most likely be read as Išḫara instead.

[30] Umma's loss of political influence resulted in the decline in the worship of Shara as well, which mirrors processes attested in the case of other cities of Mesopotamia and their deities, for example Girsu and Ningirsu, NINA and Nanshe or Shuruppak and Sud.

[31] According to Fabienne Huber Vulliet, the last reference to Shara as an actively worshiped deity in a text of known provenance comes from a document from Old Babylonian Ur which mentions a temple in an unspecified location.

[38] Shara's original wife was the goddess Ninura, who was associated with the place name Ĝiša (GIŠ.KUŠU2), and in the Early Dynastic document referred to as the City Gazetteer in modern scholarship she is described as its "birthing mother" (ama-tu-da Ĝišaki).

[17] Hartmut Waetzoldt proposes that originally it was Ninura who was the tutelary deity of Umma, while Shara was primarily associated with the nearby settlement KI.ANki.

[17] A possible depiction of Ninura is present on the seal Ninḫilia, who was the wife of Aakala, who served as the governor of Umma during the reign of Shu-Sin.

"[2] It has also been pointed out that it resembles the Sumerian term usakar and its Akkadian form uskāru, both of which refer to the crescent, and that it shows phonetic similarity to the name of Išḫara.

[46] She proposed that the goddess Nin-UM (reading and meaning of the second sign are unknown), who in one of the Early Dynastic Zame Hymns is identified with Inanna of Zabalam, might have been the original deity of this city.

[6] When Inanna looks for a substitute after being released from the underworld, Shara is one of the candidates she considers, but since much like Ninshubur and Lulal he was properly mourning her death, she tells the demons accompanying her to spare him.