Hadda of Ḫalab and his temple in the Ebla period

Abstract

During the twenty-fourth century BC, Aleppo, centre of cult of the weather god Hadda, was administered by an overseer under the control of Ebla, whose major god was Kura. Although Hadda had a temple in Mari, the region of the Middle Euphrates was dominated by the cult of Dagan, while ʾAdabal was the god of the Orontes valley. The king and his family played a regular role in the rites of Hadda at Aleppo. Twice a year, a renewal rite required the replacement of his mace and pair of bull's horns. Besides the mace, a chariot and two bulls with human faces were attributed to this god, an iconography which lasted into subsequent centuries.