I. Name
The Babylonian word ṣalmu is used as the equivalent of Sum. alam, dùl and nu. It refers both to statues and other symbols of gods and humans. Though occasionally preceded by the divine determinative (dingir), the image (ṣalmu) was not viewed as a god itself. A cult of a deity ‘Image’ (*Ṣulmu), however, is attested for the city of Taima in north-west Arabia. The closest analogy in the Hebrew Bible is the cult of erected stones (maṣṣēbôt), whose anointment with oil reflects a kind of worship.