Adad

Adad
God of Weather, ord of ritual acts and divination
General Information
Species	God
Aliases	Addu, Iškur
Weapons	Axe
Symbols	Thunderbolt, horned cap,
Relationships
Consorts	Shala
Equivalents
Celtic equivalent	Taranis
Greek equivalent	Zeus
Hindu equivalent	Indra
Norse equivalent	Thor
Phoenician equivalent	Baal
Roman equivalent	Jupiter
Slavic equivalent	Perun

Adad, also known as Adat, is the Mesopotamian and Amorite god associated with weather-based phenomena, such as storms, lighting and rain, who was also an important figure in the practice of divination alongside Shamash, the god of the sun and justice.

He is often associated with Baal Hadad, a deity worshipped in the Levant and Syrian, serving possibly as a link deity between Mesopotamian and North West Semitic religion.

Overview

Myths

Adad appears in the myths of Mesopotamia, though often in a supporting role.

For example, in the Anzu-epic, he is one of three gods approached to stop the chaotic Anzû-bird and retrieve the tablets of desinty, alongside Gerra, the god fire and Shara, a minor god of war. All three decline, and it is Ninurta who agrees to go fight on the behalf of the gods.

Adad also appears as an important member of the divine council in the Epic of Atra-ḫasīs. When the gods want to wipe out humanity one the ways to do this was Adad holding back the rain. Despite this, Enki, the god of wisdom, helped humans on how to placate the storm-god with offering, which led to the return of the rain.

Divination

Within the ancient Mesopotamian art of divination, the art of reading divine signs of the current and future events, Adad, alongside the god Shamash, were very important figure, with the storm god even known as the "lord of inspection". There were also legends on how Shamash and Adad directly revealed the knowledge of bārû, the art of liver-divination, to Emmeduranki, the primeval king of the city of Sippur who was said to be the presurssor of all diviners and necromancers.