Anammelech

ANAMMELECH, ɑ-nam´e´lec or a´´nam´´mê´lec: According to II Kings xvii. 31, a deity worshiped with child-sacrifice by the Sepharvites who were settled in Samaria by Sargon (see Adrammelech). If Sepharvaim be sought in Babylonia, it is natural to refer the name “Anammelech” to the Babylonian god Anu (Anu-malik or Anu-malku, “King Anu"; cf. Jensen, pp. 272 sqq.; Schrader, p. 353; Bæthgen, pp. 254-255). If, however, as is more probable, Sepharvaim was a city of Syria, the Babylonian derivation is untenable. The name of a goddess Anath is found in a Greco-Phenician inscription (CIS, i. 95) of Lapithos in Cyprus belonging to the time of Ptolemy I. Soter (d. 283 B.C.). It occurs also on a Phenician coin with a picture of the goddess riding upon a lion, and a star above her head. The name “Anath” appears in the Old Testament towns Beth-anath (in Naphtali, Josh. xix. 38; Judges i. 33) and Beth-anoth (in Judah, Josh. xv. 59); also in the proper name “Anath” (Judges iii. 31, v. 6), and perhaps in the town Anathoth near Jerusalem. It is not impossible that the passage in II Kings is corrupt, and “Anammelech” may be merely a variant of “Adrammelech.” It is wanting in Lucian’s text of the Septuagint.

Bibliography: P. Schols, Götzendienst und Zauberwesen bei den alten Hebräern und den benachbarten Völkern, pp. 405-407, Ratisbon, 1877; F. Baethgen, Beiträge zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte, Berlin, 1889; P. Jensen, Die Kosmologie der Babylonier, Strasburg, 1890; Schrader, KAT.