The name Didanu (Ditanu^[2]) is presumed to share its origin with a variety of terms in Semitic languages derived from the root ddn or dtn, variously used as designations of tribes, toponyms, names of mythical ancestors and possibly of mythical animals.^[4] Attested examples include terms such Tidnu, Tidanum, Tidnum and Tidan.^[5] Gianni Marchesi anglicizes it as “Tidneans” as a term referring to a group of people.^[6] It has been suggested that all of these words were related to the word didānu (ditānu), variously interpreted as bison,^[7] aurochs, or possibly a mythical animal, though this remains uncertain.^[8] It has been argued that the animal might have functioned as a symbol of an Amorite clan which subsequently came to be designated by its name.^[7] Another view is that the name Ditanu and other related terms are cognates of the Akkadian word datnu, “warlike”.^[9]

Most references to Tidnum occur in texts written in Sumerian from between the late third millennium BCE and the end of the Old Babylonian period.^[6] The oldest example where the term certainly occurs as a label referring to a group of people or a polity is an inscription of Gudea, though it might already be present as a toponym in texts from Fara, Abu Salabikh and Ebla.^[4] The youngest attestation which can be dated with certainty is a reference in the Nippur Lament.^[10] Inscriptions from the Ur III period use the term Tidnum and its variants in parallel with other words referring to Amorites, one example being a reference to a wall constructed during the reign of Shu-Sin, referred to as the “Fender of Tidnim/Datnim” (mu-ri-iq ti-id-ni-im/ti-da-nim/da-at-ni-im) in Akkadian and as the “Mardu Wall” (BAD₃ MAR.DU₂) in Sumerian.^[2] However, an earlier administrative text from Ebla differentiates between Amorites and DA-DA-nu, possibly an early variant of Tidnum.^[11] Based on another inscription of Shu-Sin, it is presumed that the latter label was more specific, and designated just one group among people referred to as Amorites in Mesopotamia.^[12] Presumably, they inhabited the steppes in Northern Mesopotamia or in a part of Syria.^[13] Proposed locations associated with them include areas around Jebel Hamrin, Jebel Bishri or Jebel Abdel Aziz.^[14] It is possible that multiple of these proposals are correct, and the area inhabited by them changed across time.^[15] After the Ur III period the term seemingly never refers to a contemporary polity or ethnic group, and is restricted to literary texts.^[4] Only a single inscription can be attributed to a Tidnean, a dedication to the goddess Belet-Šuḫnir discovered in the proximity of modern Kirkuk whose author refers to himself as “Ammîštamar, son of Didaniyum”.^[16] By the late Bronze Age, the term functioned only as the name of a mythical royal ancestor, who is agreed to not be a historical figure.^[17]

In the Assyrian King List (AKL), known from copies from between the eleventh and eighth century but most likely composed earlier,^[1] Didanu is described as one of the “seventeen kings who lived in tents”, the ancestors of Shamshi-Adad I,^[2] a historical Amorite chieftain who built an empire in Upper Mesopotamia centered in Assur.^[18] Jean-Jacques Glassner suggests that he might have originally commissioned the preparation of this text.^[19] It might have been intended to be a strictly Assyrian counterpart of the Sumerian King List.^[20] Like other Mesopotamian king lists, the Assyrian King List was composed to affirm the prestige to the reigning monarchs through invented genealogies.^[21] Didanu is the ninth of the rulers listed,^[22] with and he is preceded Ḫarṣu and followed by Ḫanû.^[23] These three names, as well as the other rulers listed in the same section, presumably all originated as Amorite toponyms, theonyms, tribal endonyms or eponymous ancestors.^[24] However, it is not likely that the sequence directly reflects a preexisting oral tradition.^[25]

Didanu is also mentioned among the ancestors of the First Dynasty of Babylon in a text from the reign of Ammi-Saduqa (1646–1626 BCE) recording the provisions meant for a kispum ritual, meant to honor the dead with a banquet.^[18] It is agreed that he is the same figure as the Assyrian Didanu, and the text presumably reflects the incorporation of the list of Shamsi-Adad I’s legendary ancestors into a new tradition.^[7] It also mentions other names from the aforementioned section of the Assyrian King List, but their spelling and order in some cases vary.^[18] In this case, Didanu’s predecessor is Namzu, and he is in turn followed by Zummabu.^[24]

Ammi-saduqa’s predecessor, Ammi-Ditana, bore an Amorite name which can be translated as “my paternal uncle is Didanu”,^[26] while another king from the same dynasty was named Samsu-Ditana, “sun of Didanu”.^[9] As early as in the Sargonic period, and Old Babylonian times,^[4] Didanu and various variant forms are also attested a component of other personal names, such as Ditanu-sar (“Didanu is a sovereign”) or Abi-Ditanu (“my father is Didanu”).^[7] One early possibly Akkadian name, ME-^dDi-ta-an (possibly to be read as Simat-Ditan), renders the name with the so-called divine determinative (dingir), but deification of Didanu is a rarely attested phenomenon in Mesopotamian sources.^[4] It has nonetheless been argued that he could be considered an Amorite deity.^[27]

Didanu is also mentioned in the Ugaritic texts.^[28] Similarly as in Mesopotamia, two forms of his name are attested, ddn and dtn, with the latter being more common.^[2] They can be vocalized as Didānu and Ditānu, respectively.^[3] It cannot be established if one of the two should be understood as an archaic form, or if the spelling with a /d/ is the result of voicing the voiceless /t/ due to the next consonant being voiced.^[2] Mary E. Buck argues that the references to him are among the passages which can be considered evidence of Ugaritic kings believing themselves to be the descendants of a nomadic Amorite tribe.^[29] He is attested as an ancestor of both the royal family and a mythical king, Kirta.^[3] Mary R. Bachvarova suggests that his incorporation into the local tradition reflected an attempt to connect the royal dynasty to a recognizable legendary one.^[28] Presumably the Ugaritic royal family claimed descent from the same Amorite clan as other rulers whose genealogies mention him.^[30][31] There is also evidence that in Ugaritic religion he was regarded as a deity.^[30]

A text dealing with the veneration of deceased ancestors, RS 34.126, mentions Didanu.^[32] Dennis Pardee identifies it as the only Ugaritic text of indisputably funerary character.^[33] Most likely it describes the preparations for a ceremony centered on the second to last king of Ugarit, Niqmaddu III.^[34] It refers to the “assembly of Didānu”,^[35] which is invoked to observe the funeral of the deceased king and to receive offerings.^[32] While multiple kings are named in this text, the majority are not historical figures.^[30] They are identified as rapa’ūma, presumably ancestors of the royal family, and they are said to belong to Didanu’s clan.^[36] Jordi Vidal argues that Didanu cannot be interpreted as a king in this context, but only as the eponym of the clan.^[37] Didanu additionally appears in a passage repeated twice in the Epic of Kirta, where the eponymous ruler is also said to be a member of the same clan as him.^[36] According to Pardee, this indicates that Kirta was apparently understood as a figure less ancient than him, despite also belonging to the sphere of myth.^[30] In another Ugaritic text, RS 24.272, a deity addressed as the “lord of the great gods” (ʾadn ʾilm rbm) visits Didanu to ask him about the health of a child.^[38] Presumably the last of these figures is also to be interpreted as a deity, but the instructions issued by Didanu in response served as a model for rituals meant to be performed to help human children.^[36]

Both variants of Didanu's name also occur as a component of Ugaritic given names.^[2]

In the Hebrew Bible Dedan, a cognate of Didanu, appears as an ordinary given name in Numbers 16:1, Deuteronomy 11:6 and Psalm 106:17.^[9]

It has been suggested that the name of the ancient city Dadan or Dadan, located in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula in the oasis Al-'Ula and attested in an inscription of Nabonidus (^uruDa-da-nu), was derived from the same root as the name of Didanu.^[4] However, this connection is considered uncertain by Gianni Marchesi.^[39]

Mary R. Bachvarova argues that the name of the Titans from Greek mythology was derived from Didanu.^[28] However, according to Ian Rutherford the phonetic similarity might be accidental, and it is difficult to explain how a name of a legendary ancestor would be generalized into a term referring to a group of ancestral deities.^[40]

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