thumb|Depiction of Adrammelech, from [[Jacques Collin de Plancy|Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal, 1863]]
Adrammelech (; Adramélekh) is an ancient Semitic god mentioned briefly by name in the Book of Kings, where he is described as a god of "Sepharvaim". Sepharvaim (a word which is grammatically dual) is commonly, but not certainly, identified with the twin cities of Sippar Yahrurum and Sippar Amnanum on the banks of the Euphrates, north of Babylon. The name Adrammelech probably translates to "Magnificent king."
The Adrammelech mentioned in as one of the sons and murderers of Sennacherib refers to an unrelated human figure, historically known as Arda-Mulissu.
Historical background
Biblical account
reports: "The Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim" (NIV). The Sepharvites are given as a people deported by the Assyrians to Samaria. Adrammelech and the god Anammelech (about whom likewise little is known) are again seemingly alluded to in : "Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand?" (NIV). has an almost identical passage.
Interpretation
According to A. R. Millard, Saul Olyan, and others, Adrammelech likely represents an original ʾAddîr-meleḵ, "majestic king" or "the majestic one is king". Cognate ʾAddîr-milk, along with similar Milk-ʾaddîr (with the morphemes inverted) and Baʿal-ʾaddîr ("majestic master" or "majestic Baal"), is recorded in ancient Semitic sources as an epithet of Baal, or a baal. For example, Eberhard Schrader wrote in 1885:
Peter Jensen proposed in the late nineteenth century that (ʾAḏrammeleḵ, "Adrammelech") was a manuscript error for (*ʾĂḏaḏmeleḵ, "*Adadmelech"), due to the typographical similarity of (r) and (d), which Jensen thought was a variant of unrecorded (*Ḥăḏaḏmeleḵ, "King Hadad" or "Hadad is king"), thus identifying Adrammelech with the Canaanite god Hadad. Adad is in fact recorded as a variant of Hadad; but Millard writes: "If the Sepharvites were of Aramean or Phoenician origin, it is very unlikely that the name of their god would have lost its initial h, unless the Hebrew authors of Kings copied the information from a cuneiform text in Babylonian, which would not express it."
In the Talmud
From the Jewish Encyclopedia: