I. Name
Dedan is one of the ancestors of the royal families of Ugarit and Assyria. According to Ugaritic texts he was deified. In both Ugaritic and Akkadian texts he is also named Datan or Ditan. This name can be related to Akk. ditānu, didānu, ‘bison’ (AHW 173) or to Akk. datnu, ‘warlike’. It also appears as a personal name in the OT, viz. dātān (Num. 16.1; Deut. 11.6; Ps. 106.17).
II. Identity
Didanu, Ditanu, or also Tidanu, is the name of a tribe living in the western part of ancient Mesopotamia first mentioned at th…