And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
Nibhaz - under that of a dog; that Egyptian form of animal worship having prevailed in ancient Syria, as is evident from the image of a large dog at the mouth of the Nahr el-Kelb or Dog river.
Tartak - according to the Rabbis, was in the form of an ass; but others understand it as a planet of ill-omen,; probably Saturn. Adrammelech - the 'fire king,' or, it may be, 'the royal arranger,' 'the arranger and benefactor.' The sun-god is not unfrequently mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions. Although no temple was specially reared to the sun, that deity appears to have been worshipped in Assyria under three different forms-as 'the rising sun,' 'the meridian sun,' and 'the setting sun.' The male and female powers of the sun, whose worship at Shepharvaim (Sippara) was celebrated throughout the East, were identified by the Greeks and Romans with the Apollo and Diana of classical mythology. It was worshipped in the form of a mule; others maintain, in that of a peacock. Sippara is called Tsipar sha Shama, 'Sippara of the sun,' in various inscriptions, and possessed a temple of the god, which was repaired and adorned by many of the ancient Chaldean kings, as well as by Nebuchadnezzar, etc. (Rawlinson, 'Ancient Monarchies,' 1:, p. 161).
Anammelech - worshipped in the form of a hare; others say, in that of a goat. 'No satisfactory explanation has yet been given of this name. If it represents the female power of the sun, we must suppose that Ana is an abbreviated form of Annuit, and that Melek is for Malcah, the Jews, from contempt, not caring to be correct in their names of false gods' (Rawlinson, 'Ancient Monarchies,' 1:, p. 163).