The Storm God

He's featured in the latest issue of Archaeology Magazine - there is an abstract of the article online. Image: Adda 14th Century BCE. Temple of the Storm God Volume 62 Number 6, November/December 2009 by Andrew Lawler A 5,000-year-old sanctuary emerges from beneath Aleppo's medieval citadel Various names were listed for this familiar god: Adda was known variously as Addu, Teshup, Tarhunta, and Hadad. Add Yahweh (Jehovah) to that list, and may as well add the Pharaohs of Egypt too, because the earliest depictions of pre-dynastic kings and the rulers from Dynasty One (Narmer, for instance) assume that same aggressive striding pose - one hand raised (ready to hurl a thunderbolt or a spear, or wield a club to smite the enemy). The Narmer Palette dates to the earliest days of Dynasty One (c. 3100 BCE, although some push that date back to 3400 BCE or 3500 BCE, to c. 2890 BCE). The image of Adda dates to c. 1599 BCE to 1500 BCE, and yet they share many similarities, don't they. The pointed headdress; the pointed beard; the short war apron; the raised right arm. My take: Adda is Dadda - the Big Daddy in the Sky who is everyone's "Daddy."