TYPE: Weather god
ORIGIN: Syrian
INFORMATION: Derived from the Akkadian deity Adad. In texts found at the site of the ancient Canaanite capital of Ugarit [Ras Samra], the name of Hadad apparently becomes a substitute for that of Baal. His voice is described as roaring from the clouds and his weapon is the thunderbolt. His mother is the goddess Aserah.
During Hellenic times he was predominantly worshiped at Ptolemais and Hierapolis. His Syrian consort is Atargatis, who overshadows him in local popularity at Hierapolis. Statues of the two deities were carried in procession to the sea twice yearly. According to the Jewish writer Josephus, Hadad also enjoyed a major cult following at Damascus in the eighth and ninth centuries BCE. By the third century BCE the Hadad-Atargatis cult had been extended to Egypt, when he becomes identified as the god Sutekh. In the Greek tradition his consort becomes Hera. See also Adad.