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I. Name Hadad is the name under which the ancient Near Eastern storm god was known among various groups in the Mesopotamian and Syrian world. The god is also mentioned in a number of biblical texts and names. In this article, the biblical material will be dealt with in conjunction with the epigraphic data from the Near East. II. Identity Hadad makes his first appearance as Adad in Old Akkadian texts, and in this guise he is important in the Mesopotamian world through the neo-Assyrian and neo-Babylonian periods. Hadad in all likelihood means ‘thunderer’ a…

I. Name In Mesopotamian religion, the term apkallu (Sum. abgal) is used for the legendary creatures endowed with extraordinary Wisdom. Seven in number, they are the culture heroes from before the Flood. Some of the mythological speculations in which they figure have exerted influence on certain biblical and post-biblical traditions. Examples are the figure of Enoch and the tale of the Nephilim ( Gen. 6.1–4). II. Identity Akk. apkallu is derived from Sum. abgal, a term used in the 3rd millennium for a high official. In the Sumerian incantations of the Old Babylonian period abgal refers to…

The Arameans, the speakers of all those dialects, are first directly mentioned in cuneiform texts from the end of the twelfth century B. C. where they are said to belong to the Akhlame group of people. In the course of time, various names such as Chaldean, Nabatean, Syrian, and Assyrian, came into use for Aramaic-speaking peoples. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 3, pp. 250-261 i. General Aramaic is the comprehensive name for numerous dialects of a Northwest Semitic language closely related to Hebrew and Arabic, first attested in in…