Adad

The God of Storm and Rain

Domain: Storm, Rain & Thunder
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Element: Thunder
Relics of Power: Bundle of Lightning

Speak with Adad

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5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.

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The People

People

Sumerians, Akkadians & Babylonians

Region

Mesopotamia (modern Iraq)

Period

c. 3500 – 500 BC

The Mesopotamian gods were worshipped by the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians in the land between the Tigris and Euphrates, the cradle of writing and cities. Each city raised a ziggurat to its patron god, served by a powerful priestly caste. Their myths, such as the Enuma Elish and the Epic of Gilgamesh, are among the oldest in the world.

The Akitu festival opened the new year with processions along Babylon's Sacred Way, and the sacred marriage rite symbolically united Inanna and Dumuzi to ensure fertility. Lamentations, hymns, and divination by animal livers marked daily religious life.

At a glance

Adad, the Akkadian name of the god the Sumerians called Iškur, is the god of storm, thunder, and rain. The open texts show him in three quite different registers: in charge of water and abundance in Enki and the World Order, the cause of grain sprouting on dry ground in Enmerkar and the lord of Aratta, and the agent of drought and flood in the Atrahasis. At Ugarit, the same type of god bears the name Baal and is the protagonist of a cycle of his own. No source gathered here forms a continuous biography; what survives is hymns, episodes, and mentions, and this study keeps them apart.

The ancient sources on this deity are scarce. This study gathers only what is on record.

8 min read · Reviewed on October 14, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

The bundle of lightning, the bull, the thunderbolt and the rain clouds

Family

Parents

Enlil Anu

Adad

Genealogy according to ETCSL 1.8.2.3, linhas 536–556 (filho de Enlil); ETCSL 1.1.3, linhas 309–317 (filho de An); filiação variável conforme o texto

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

ETCSL, University of Oxford, Enki and the World Order (1.1.3). read
ETCSL, University of Oxford, A Hymn to Iškur for Ur-Ninurta (2.5.6.6). read
ETCSL, University of Oxford, Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta (1.8.2.3). read
Morris Jastrow Jr. and Albert T. Clay, An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic, Project Gutenberg 11000. read
Alexander Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels (not re-verified in this review). read

Studies

Kathryn Stevens, Iškur/Adad (god), Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses. 2019. open
Wikipedia, Hadad. 2026. open
Wikipedia, Atra-Hasis. 2026. open
Wikipedia, Baal Cycle. 2026. open

Name and epithets

Iškur is the Sumerian form; Adad, also written Addu, is the Akkadian form. ORACC’s academic entry records different cuneiform spellings and relates Adad to a Semitic root associated with thunder, while considering the e…

In the ancient sources

Enki and the World Order, Sumerian composition; date of composition uncertain. In lines 318–325, Enki organizes ploughs and teams, opens furrows, and makes barley grow.

The myths

Enki gives the waters to Iškur. In Enki and the World Order, the god of wisdom travels across the land distributing functions.

Worship and archaeology

ORACC’s academic synthesis records worship of Iškur/Adad in several Mesopotamian centers and highlights Adad’s temple at Aššur, changed to a joint temple of Adad and Anu under Šamši-Adad I.

How the god was depicted

According to ORACC, Adad appears in images brandishing lightning bolts and standing on or beside a bull; an Assyrian stela from Arslan Tash, now in the Louvre, shows him mounted on the animal.

What scholars debate

Two effects of storm. The sources show fertility and destruction, but do not combine them into a fixed cycle enacted by the god in each season.

After antiquity

Adad’s presence in Sumerian, Akkadian, and Ugaritic texts and in later inscriptions shows the longevity of his cult and storm vocabulary.

Did you know?

Iškur’s storm at Aratta is called “a great lion,” and the mountains raise their voice in joy. In the Atrahasis, Adad and Nisaba abandon the drought campaign because they are ashamed of an undeserved favor.

Codex relic

Bundle of Lightning. A bundle of lightning bolts that brings both fertile rain and destructive storm.

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