Lahmu
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Laḫmu (also romanized Lakhmu) is a deity from Akkadian mythology, first-born son of Apsu and Tiamat. He and his sister Laḫamu were the parents of Anshar and Kishar, the sky father and earth mother, who begat the first gods. Laḫmu was sometimes depicted as a snake, and sometimes as a bearded man with a red sash and six curls on his head. In Sumerian times Laḫmu meant "the muddy one" and it was a title given to the gatekeeper of the Abzu temple of Enki at Eridu. In the latter form, he is called Laḫmu the Hairy. He and Laḫamu are never mentioned separately.
Symbolically, Laḫmu referred to the silt islands that appeared where the Fresh water (Abzu) met the Salt water (Tiamat) of the Persian Gulf.
Some scholars have speculated that the name of Bethlehem actually originally contained a reference to a Canaanite form of Laḫmu, rather than to the Canaanite word for "bread".
[edit] References
Michael Jordon, Encyclopedia of Gods, Kyle Cathie Limited, 2002
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