own as Ramman, which means 'the thunderer,' it is
possible that this was an epithet given to the god, and not his real or
his oldest name. It is significant that in the El-Amarna tablets (_c._
1500 B.C.), where the god _Im_ appears as an element in proper names,
the reading _Addu_ is vouched for, and this form has been justly brought
into connection with a very famous solar deity of Syria,--Hadad. The
worship of Hadad, we know, was widely spread in Palestine and Syria, and
there is conclusive evidence that Hadad (or Adad), as a name for the god
_Im_, was known in Babylonia. Professor Oppert is of the opinion that
Adad represents the oldest name of the god. Quite recently the
proposition has been made that the real name of the deity was
_Immeru_.[172] The ideograph in this case would arise through the
curtailment of the name (as is frequently the case in the cuneiform
syllabary), and the association of _Im_ with 'storm' and 'wind' would be
directly dependent upon the nature of the deity in question. The
material at hand is not sufficient for deciding the question. Besides
Immeru, Adad, and Ramman, the deity was also known as _Mer_--connected
apparently with Immeru.[173] So much is certain, that Ramman appears to
have been the name currently used in Assyria for this god. Adad may have
been employed occasionally in Babylonia, as was _Mer_ in proper names,
but that it was not the common designation is proved by a list of gods
(published by Bezold[174]) in which the _foreign_ equivalent for _Im_ is
set down as Adad. We may for the present, therefore, retain Ramman,
while bearing in mind that we have only proof of its being an epithet
applied to the god, not necessarily his real name and in all
probabilities not the oldest name.

We meet with the god for the first time in the hymn to which reference
has already been made,[175] and where the god is mentioned together with
Shamash. If the suggestion above thrown out is correct, that the hymn is
older than the days of Hammurabi, Ramman too would be older than his
first mention in historical texts. However, it is worthy of note that in
this hymn each of the other gods mentioned receives a line for himself,
and that Ramman is the only one who is tacked on to another deity. It is
not strange that in making copies of older texts, especially those of a
religious character, the scribes should have introduced certain
modifications. At all events, the god does not acquire any degree of