Adrammelech

was also one of the gods adored by the inhabitants of Sepharvaim, who were settled in the country of Samaria, in the room of the Israelites, who were carried beyond the Euphrates. The Sepharvaites made their children pass through the fire in honour of this idol, and another, called Anammelech, 2Ki 17:31. The Rabbins say, that Adrammelech was represented under the form of a mule; but there is much more reason to believe that Adrammelech meant the sun, and Anammelech the moon; the first signifying the magnificent king, the second the gentle king,—many eastern nations adoring the moon as a god, not as a goddess.

Adrammelech, 1

Adram´melech is mentioned, together with Anammelech, in 2Ki 17:31, as one of the idols whose worship the inhabitants of Sepharvaim established in Samaria, when they were transferred thither by the king of Assyria, and whom they worshipped by the sacrifice of their children by fire. This constitutes the whole of our certain knowledge of this idol.

Adrammelech, 2

Adrammelech, one of the sons and murderers of Sennacherib, king of Assyria (2Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38).

1. Son of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, Isa 37:38 ; 2Ki 19:37, who, upon returning to Nineveh after his fatal expedition against Hezekiah, was killed by his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, through fear, according to Jewish tradition, of being sacrificed to his idol Nisroch. They then fled to the mountains of Armenia, B. C. 713.\par 2. One of the gods adored by the inhabitants of Sepharvaim, who settled in Samaria, in the stead of those Israelites who were carried beyond the Euphrates. They made their children pass through fire, in honor of this false deity, and of another called Anammelech, 2Ki 17:31 . Some think that Adrammelech represented the sun, and Anammelech the moon.\par

Adram’melech. (splendor of the king).

1. The name of an idol introduced into Samaria by the colonists from Sepharvaim. 2Ki 17:31. He was worshipped with rites resembling those of Molech, children being burnt in his honor. Adrammelech was probably the male power of the sun, and Anammelech, who is mentioned with Adrammelech as a companion god, the female power of the sun.

2. Son of the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, who, with his brother Sharezer, murdered their father in the temple of Nisroch at Nineveh, after the failure of the Assyrian attack on Jerusalem. The parricides escaped into Armenia. 2Ki 19:37; 2Ch 32:21; Isa 37:38.

1. The idol of the Sepharvite colonists of Samaria planted by Assyria (2Ki 17:31); means "burning splendor of the king" (compare Molech). The male power of the sun; as ANAMMELECH is the female, sister deity. Astrology characterized the Assyrian idolatry. Adrammelech was represented as a peacock or a mule; Anammelech as a pheasant or a horse. Children were burnt in his honor.

2. Son and murderer of Sennacherib in Nisroch’s temple at Nineveh. He and Sharezer his brother escaped to Armenia (2Ki 19:36; 2Ch 32:21). Named so from the idol.

(Heb. Adramme’lek, אִדְרִמֶּלֶךְ, prob. for , אֶדֶר הִמֶּלֶךְ, glory of the king, i.e., of Moloch; Sept. Α᾿δραμέλεχ), the name of a deity, and also of a man. SEE CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS.

1. An idol worshipped by the sacrifice of children in the fire, in connection with Anammelech, by the inhabitants of Sepharvaim, who were transported to Samaria by the king of Assyria (2Ki 17:31). Selden (De Diis Syris, 2, 9) has confounded the two idols, being misled by a corrupt reading of the text (אֵֹלהִ, god, instead of 1.אֵֹלהֵי, gods of, as in the margin). The above etymology (making the name equivalent to the splendid king), first proposed by Jurien (Hist. des cultes, 4, 653) favors the reference of this divinity to the sun, the moon perhaps being denoted by the associated Anammelech (as the female companion of the sun, comp. Rawlinson’s Herodotus, 1, 611), in general accordance with the astrological character of Assyrian idolatry (Gesenius, Comment. ub. Jesaias, 2, 327 sq.), and seems preferable to the Persian derivation (i. q. adar or azar, fire) proposed by Reland (De vet. ling. Pers. 9). The kind of sacrifice has led to the conjecture (Lette, De idolo Adrammelech, in the Bibl. Bremens. nov. — fasc. 1, p. 41 sq.) that Saturn is meant; but Selden (De Diis Syris, 1, 6) and others have identified him with Moloch, chiefly on the ground that the sacrifice of children by fire, and the general signification of the name, are the same in both (see Gregorius, Feuergotzen d. Samaritaner, Lauban, 1754). Little credit is due to the rabbinical statements of the Bab. Talmud, that this idol was worshipped under the form of a peacock, or, according to Kimchi, that of a mule (Carpzov, Apparatus, p. 516); but it is probable that the former notion may have arisen from a confusion with some other ancient idol of the Assyrians of that form. The Yezidees, or so-called devil-worshippers of the same region, appear to retain a striking vestige of such a species of idolatry in their sacred symbol called Melek Taus, or king peacock, a name by which they personify Satan, the chief object of their reverence (Layard’s Nineveh, 1st ser. 1, 245; 2d ser. p. 47).

2. A son of Sennacherib, king of Assyria. Both he and Sharezar were probably the children of slaves, and had therefore no right to the throne. Sennacherib, some time after his return to Nineveh, from his disastrous expedition against Hezekiah, was put to death by them while worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch; having accomplished this crime, they fled for safety to the mountains of Armenia, and their brother Esarhaddon succeeded to the throne (2Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38; comp. 2Ch 32:21), B.C. 680. See SENNACHERIB. Moses Chorensis (p. 60) calls him Adramelus; so, also, Abydenus (in Euseb. Chron. Armen. 1, 53), who makes him the son and murderer of Nergal, Sennacherib’s immediate successor (see Hitzig, Begriff d. Kritik, p. 194 sq.); while, according to Alexander Polyhistor (in Euseb. Chron. Arm. 1, 43), Sennacherib was assassinated by his son Ardumusanus. Colossians Rawlinson (Outlines of Assyrian History, also in the Lond. Athenaeum, March 18 and April 15, 1854) thinks he has deciphered the names of two Assyrian kings called Adrammelech, one about 300 and the other 15 years anterior to Sennacherib; but neither of them can be the one referred to in Scripture.

Adrammelech (a-drăm’me-lĕk), splendor of the king, or fire king. 1. One of the idols adored by the Sepharvaim, who were settled in Samaria. They made their children pass through the fire in honor of this deity, and of another called Anammelech, "image of the king." Rawlinson supposes the sun and his wife Anunit—perhaps the moon-to be referred to. 2Ki 17:31. 2. A son of Sennacherib, who aided in slaying his father. 2Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38.

[Adram’melech]

1. The god of the Sepharvites, to whom they burnt their children, placed in one of the houses of the high places among the Samaritans. 2Ki 17:31. A sort of Adar-Mars, i.e., sun-god, who was regarded as a destroying being (Fürst).

2. One of the sons of Sennacherib who smote his father with the sword and then fled to the land of Armenia. 2Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38.

By: Louis Ginzberg, John Dyneley Prince

—Biblical Data:

1. Mentioned in II Kings, xvii. 31, as a god of Sepharvaim, which until recently was supposed to be the Hebrew name for the Babylonian city Sippar. After the inhabitants of Sepharvaim had been deported to Samaria (II Kings, xvii. 24; Isa. xxxvi. 19) by Sargon, king of Assyria, they continued to worship their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech, accompanying their rites with the sacrifice of children by fire. There was, however, no Assyrian or Babylonian god bearing the name Adrammelech, although, according to some scholars, the form of the word, if it be regarded as Assyrian, points to a supposed original "Adar-malik" (see 2). There is no reference throughout the cuneiform documents to human sacrifice by fire or otherwise, and it is not certain that the sculptures and bas-reliefs show any representation of such a rite. The reference in Jer. xxix. 22 to the roasting alive of the false prophets Zedekiah and Ahab by the king of Babylon is no doubt historically accurate, although the passage is not regarded by the best authorities (as, for example, Cornill, "Jeremiah," in "Sacred Books of the Old Testament," p. 61) as properly belonging to the text. Inany case it would merely show that such cremation was not unknown in Babylonia as a punishment. It could scarcely have existed as a religious observance, or even as a common form of torture; otherwise it would have been mentioned in the inscriptions.

The question whether Sepharvaim is necessarily the Babylonian Sippar at once arises. If this theory be correct, the name Adrammelech would have to be regarded as the secondary title of the sun-god Shamash, who was the tutelary deity of Sippar. But, as no such secondary title exists in the inscriptions, there is no evidence to support such a view. Many scholars suggest that Sepharvaim (LXX. Σεπφαρίν, Σεπφαρίμ) is identical with "Shabara'in," a city mentioned in the Babylonian Chronicle as having been destroyed by Shalmaneser II. As Sepharvaim is mentioned in connection with Hamath and Arpad (II Kings, xvii. 24, xviii. 34) there is every reason to regard it as a Syrian city. Sepharvaim may therefore be another form of "Shabara'in," which is probably the Assyrian form of Sibraim (Ezek. xlvii. 16), a city near Damascus. If this be so, then any attempt at seeking all Assyrian etymology for the god-names Adrammelech and Anammelech can not, of course, succeed. The fact, too, that the practise of sacrifice by fire was well known in Syria and is mentioned only once in connection with Babylon (compare Prince, "Daniel," p. 75) would appear to confirm this view. It is quite impossible with our present knowledge to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion with regard to the exact meaning of the god-name Adrammelech. The utmost that can be said is that the word "Adr" occurs in Phenician as a god-name in the form , "Itnadr" (Baethgen, "Beiträge zur Semitischen Religionsgeschichte," p. 54), and that "Adr" appears as an epithet in connection with another divine name in the proper name Adarbaal (Baudissin, "Studien zur Semitischen Religions-geschichte," i. 312). There is no essentially Syrian god Adar.

—In Rabbinical Literature:

The Talmud teaches (Sanh. 63b) that Adrammelech was an idol of the Sepharvaim in the shape of an ass. This is to be concluded from his name, which is compounded of "to carry" (compare Syriac ), and "a king." These heathen worshiped as God the same animal which carried their burdens (Sanh. l.c.; see also Rashi's explanation of this passage which interprets "to distinguish," by "carrying"). Still another explanation of the name ascribes to the god the form of a peacock and derives the name from adar ("magnificent") and melek ("king"); Yer. 'Ab. Zarah, iii. 42d.

L. G.

2. Son of Sennacherib, king of Assyria (II Kings, xix. 37; Isa. xxxvii. 38), who, with his brother Sharezer, slew their father while he was praying in the temple of Nisroch at Nineveh, and afterward fled to Armenia. The revolt against Sennacherib is clearly mentioned in the Babylonian Chronicle (iii. 34-35) which, like the account of Berosus, alludes to only one son, without giving his name. The narrative of Abydenus (Eusebius, "Armenian Chronicle," ed. Schoene, i. 35), however, like that of the Scriptures, mentions two sons—Nergilus and Adramelus—which Polyhistor gives in the form "Ardumusanus" (p. 27). It should be added, however, that the existence in Assyro-Babylonian of the form Adar as the name of a god is not altogether certain, although it is probable that the god-name which appears ideographically as Nin-ib should be read Adar. Adar is the name of the last month of the year; but if this be the name of a god, it can hardly be identical with the god Ninib-Adar, who represents the sun in the east—probably the vernal sun. It must also be borne in mind that it is by no means certain that the word Adar is concealed in the name Adrammelech.

ADRAMMELECH.—1. Adrammelech and Anammelech (wh. see), the gods of Sepharvaim to whom the colonists, brought to Samaria from Sepharvaim, burnt their children in the fire (2Ki 17:31). There is no good explanation of the name: it was once supposed to be for Adar-malik, ‘Adar the prince.’ But Adar is not known to be a Babylonian god, and compound Divine names are practically unknown, nor were human sacrifices offered to Babylonian gods.

2. Adrammelech and Sharezer (wh. see) are given in 2Ki 19:37 as the sons of Sennacherib who murdered their father. [The Kethibh of Kings omits ‘his sons’]. The Babylonian Chronicle says: ‘On the 20th of Tebet, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was killed by his son in an insurrection’; and all other native sources agree in ascribing the murder to one son, but do not name him. Adrammelech is impossible as an Assyrian personal name, and probably arises here from some corruption of the text. The sons of Sennacherib known to us are Ashur-nâdin-shum, king of Babylon, b.c. 700–694; Esarhaddon, who succeeded his father, b.c. 681; Ardi-Bçlit, Crown Prince, b.c. 694; Ashur-shum-ushabshi, for whom Sennacherib built a palace in Tarbisi; Ashur-ilu-muballitsu, for whom Sennacherib built a palace in Asshur; and Shar-etir-Ashur. Possibly Ardi-Bçlit is intended.

C. H. W. Johns.