HADAD. — Throughout ancient western Asia, the god of storms, lightning, and rain was one of the most prominent deities in the pantheon of each of the numerous nations inhabiting the region. This god was called H. by the Arameans and Adad or Addu by the Babylonians and Assyrians, while the Sumerians knew him as Iskur. Other nations of the area worshipped him under different names. He was also included in the pantheons of the Elamites, Urartaeans (Biaineans), Hurrians, Canaanites, Hittites, and many other peoples of Asia Minor.
Everywhere it was believed that he hurled the lightning that shatters and sets forests ablaze, sent rain that could be either beneficial or destructive, and caused winds and storms to blow. For this reason, he was depicted holding a triple thunderbolt in one hand and an axe and hammer in the other. He is often shown standing on the back of a bull, his sacred animal, since the thunder was thought to be nothing other than the bellowing of H.’s bull. Among the Canaanites, he was the chief god and therefore bore the name Baal, meaning “lord” par excellence. He was likewise the principal deity among the Hittites: the Hittite Empire was under the protection of their storm god. The Babylonians and Assyrians especially revered him as a god of divination, in which he was associated with the sun god Šamaš, since lightning and all celestial phenomena were considered sources from which the future could be discerned.