Adad ‘Lord Of Abundance’- Mesopotamian Weather God Who Was Responsible For Fertility, Wealth And Oracles

A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com - In Mesopotamian (Babylonian-Akkadian) beliefs, Adad was a god of atmospheric phenomena. He mastered and controlled rains and floods, thunder, lightning, and storms.

His West Semitic name was Hadad, and in Sumer, he was known as Ishkur, associated with both the life-giving and destructive property of rain and floods. The destructive properties of the god of the storm are visible especially in worship in the southern part of Mesopotamia, and in the north, he sent beneficial rain for people’s crops.

Left: Stela (carved monument) with reliefs displaying Baal (Hadad) with lightning, 15th to 13th BC. Found in the acropolis of Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit) source  Right: Assyrian soldiers of Ashurbanipal carrying a statue of Adad (Ramman - the 'thunderer'), the god of tempest and thunder. source.

He was considered a good giver but sometimes demonstrated his destructive powers. He could guarantee rain, annual spills, good crops, and wealth. The vegetation of plants (and thus of fertility and wealth) depended on him on this mighty god.

It happened that people behaved badly, so Adad was instructed by Enlil to withhold his beneficial rain and cause drought on Earth. However, the trickster Enki, the god of water, crafts, intelligence, and creation), who had many disagreements with his brother Enlil, wanted to do against his will.

He did not want to punish humanity, and he taught humans to sacrifice directly to Adad, who - as ancient records say - was feeling very flattered and secretly moistened, the soil of the Earth so the harvests could survive.

Highly regarded with great respect, Adad (Ishkur) was worshipped circa 1900 BC or earlier to 200 BC, in Sumerian cities of Adab and Lagash, Babylonia, and Assyria, and as far west as Syria. He had important centers of worship in Babylon, Borsippa, and Ashur, the capital and ancient religious center of Assyria, and many other settlements.

In Babylonia, Assyria, and Aleppo in Syria, Adad (‘Lord of Foresight’) was linked to oracles and divination. He shared the privilege of revealing the future, together with Shamash, the sun god who was venerated by the Akkadians.

First Records Of Adad Goes Back to 3,000 BC

The first records of his divine name 'ADAD' originate from Ur III Dynasty with kings like Ur-Nammu, Shulgi, Amar-Sin ('immortal moon-god'), Shu-Sin, and others.

Left: An Assyrian governor standing before the deities Adad (center) and Ishtar (left), limestone relief from Babylon, 8th century BC; (Museum of Oriental Antiquities, Istanbul. Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd.) via Britannica

It is believed that his name 'Adad' first appeared at the end of the 3rd millennium BC and was associated with the Amorites, a Semitic people from western Mesopotamia (modern-day Syria).

Adad was portrayed as a youthful god with bull horns, a bunch of lightning in one hand, and a zigzag of thunder in the other.

The bull (unicorn), sacred animal to the god Adad, in the low-relief on the Ishtar Gate at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. Image credit: Josep Renalias - CC BY-SA 3.0

As Sumerian god Ishkur, his identification links to the destructive forces of nature meant that he was portrayed in a warlike pose, standing directly on the bull, also with lightning in his hands.

Some other depictions show him wearing a bull-horned helmet and holding a thunderbolt and trident, an attribute of Poseidon and his Roman equivalent, Neptune.

The matching symbol of this god was a sacred bull (and in some cases, also a lion) and the cypress. Adad was also sometimes depicted as a fighting leader who rushed through the clouds on his war chariot.

Adad's father was Anu, a major god of the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Hittite-Hurrians of Mesopotamia. However, he was also recognized as the son of Bel, 'Lord of All Lands' and god of the atmosphere. His consort was the goddess of grain, Shala (or Shalash, perhaps of a Hurrian origin).

As a Sumerian deity, Ishkur was sometimes identified with Ninurta/Ningirsu and Zababa ("the warlike Lord Kish"). Each of them personified the power of nature (thunder, storms, rains) as well as was a keeper of breeding, hunting or agriculture, and good luck in battle.

Written by – A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer

Updated on March 27, 2024

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