ADAD

This article appears in Volume V01, Page 166 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: A10-ADA

ADAD , the name of the

storm

STORM (in O. Eng..storm, and so in Du. and Low Ger.; in O. H. Ger. and mod. Ger. Sturm; the root is probably that seen in " stir," to rouse, move, disturb, cf. Ger. storen)
STORM, THEODOR WOLDSEN (1817-1888)

-god in the Babylonian-Assyrian pantheon, who is also known as Ramman (" the thunderer "). The problem involved in this

double

name has not yet been definitely solved. Evidence seems to favour the view that Ramman was the name current in Babylonia, Whereas Adad was more common in Assyria. To judge from analogous instances of a

double

nomenclature, the two names revert to two different centres for the cult of a

storm

-god, though it must be confessed that up to the present it has been impossible to determine where these centres were. A god Hadad who was a prominent deity in ancient Syria is identical with Adad, and in view of this it is plausible to assumefor which there is also other evidence that the name Adad represents an importation into Assyria from Aramaic districts. Whether the same is the case with Ramman, identical with Rimmon, known to us from the Old Testament as the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

deity of Damascus, is not certain though probable. On the other hand the cult of a specific storm-god in ancient Babylonia is vouched for by the occurrence of the sign Imthe " Sumerian " or ideographic writing for Adad-Ramman as an

element

ELEMENT (Lat. elementum)

in proper names of the old Babylonian period. However this name may have originally been pronounced, so much is certain,that through Aramaic influences in Babylonia and Assyria he was identified with the storm-god of the western Semites, and a trace of this influence is to be seen in the designation Amurru, also given to this god in the religious literature of Babylonia, which as an early name for Palestine and Syria describes the god as belonging to the Amorite

district

DISTRICT

.
The Babylonian storm-god presents two aspects in the hymns, incantations and votive

inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS (from Lat. inscribere, to write upon)

. On the one hand he is the god who, through bringing on the rain in due season, causes the land to become fertile, and, on the other hand, the storms that he sends out bring havoc and destruction. He is pictured on monuments and seal cylinders with the lightning and the thunderbolt, and in the hymns the sombre aspects of the god on the whole predominate. His association with the sun-god, Shamash, due to the natural combination of the two deities who alternate in the

control

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

of nature, leads to imbuing him with some of the traits belonging to a solar deity. In Syria Hadad is hardly to be distinguished from a solar deity. The process of assimilation did not proceed so far in Babylonia and Assyria, but Shamash and Adad became in combination the gods of oracles and of divination in general. Whether the will of the gods is determined through the inspection of the

liver

LIVER (O. Eng. lifer; cf. cognate forms, Dutch lever, Ger. Leber, Swed. lefver, &c.; the O. H. Ger. forms are libara, lipora, &c.; the Teut. word has been connected with Gr. i'prap and Lat. jecur)

of the sacrificial animal, through observing the action of oil bubbles in a basin of water or through the observation of the movements of the heavenly bodies, it is Shamash and Adad who, in the ritual connected with divination, are invariably invoked. Similarly in the annals and votive

inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS (from Lat. inscribere, to write upon)

of the kings, when oracles are referred to, Shamash and Adad are always named as the gods addressed, and their

ordinary

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

designation in such instances is bele biri, " lords of divination." The

consort

CONSORT (Lat. consors, a companion)

of Adad-Ramman is Shala, while as Amurru his

consort

CONSORT (Lat. consors, a companion)

is called Aschratum. (See BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN RELIGION.) (M. JA.)

End of Article: ADAD

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/A10_ADA/ADAD.html">
ADAD
</a>

(Previous)
ADABAZAR

(Next)
ADAGIO (Ital. ad agio, at ease)

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email