Multiple syllabic spellings of the name Shullat are attested in cuneiform texts, including dśu-ul-la-at, dšu-il-la-at, dšu-ul-la-at and dsu-ul-ut.
[2] Ignace Gelb proposed that their names were derived from the Akkadian words šullatum, "despoilment," and ḫanīšum, "submission," but Dietz Otto Edzard and Wilfred G. Lambert note that while it is certain that both were derived from a Semitic language, their precise meaning is unknown, and it cannot be ruled out that speculative etymologies were already present in ancient scholarship.
"[2] Paul-Alain Beaulieu considers them to be two of the deities who entered the Mesopotamian pantheon in the early period of interaction between speakers of Sumerian and Akkadian.
[8] However, as noted by Daniel Schwemer, while it has been proposed in the past that Hanish was in origin an independent Ishkur-like weather deity, no known sources support this conclusion.
[3] An individual bearing the name Nūr-ilišu built a shrine (É) dedicated to Shullat and Hanish in Sippar.
[9] It is possible that they can be identified with the throne bearers (guzalû) of Adad mentioned in the same passage, but Daniel Schwemer argues that due to lack of other evidence this is uncertain.
The passage is broken, but Sara J. Milstein notes that the tablet appears to contain an account of multiplication of mankind after a flood and presumably Adapa's introduction.
[7] In the so-called "Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin," Shullat and Hanish are mentioned alongside Ishtar, Zababa, Ilaba, Annunitum and Shamash as the deities the eponymous king asks for advice by performing extispicy.
[20] In another legend, it is stated that Sargon at one point swore an oath of brotherhood between himself and Kish by a similar group of deities.