Rimmon

Rimmon (Ramman, Rammanu) (the thunderer) In Near Eastern mythology (Babylonian-Assyrian), the storm god, often called Adad or Hadad.

In the biblical book 2 Kings (5:1–18), Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, worshipped Rimmon, but when he was cured of his leprosy by the prophet Elisha, he said he would worship the Hebrew god, Yahweh, instead.
In the Babylonian version of the flood myth, before the Great Flood “the whirlwind of Adad mounted up into the heavens, and all light was turned into darkness.” Rimmon was portrayed holding lightning rods in his left hand and an ax in his right. His sacred animal was the bull; his sacred tree, the cypress. His wife was Shala, which may simply mean “woman.”

Rimmon was also called Martu (the Amorite) and Kur-Ga (great mountain) in Canaan. He was called Hadad by the Syrians and Teshub by the Hittites.

SEE ALSO:

• Elisha
• Yahweh

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow– Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante

NOTE:

Since the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians and others all shared essentially the same pantheon and belief systms, these articles are all combined under the Mesopotamian mythology / deities / legendary creatures category.