Mammon - in Various Countries

In Various Countries

• "Mamona" (sometimes "Mamuna") is a synonym for Mammon in Slavic countries. Currently, the word "mamona" is used figuratively and derogatorily in the Polish language as a synonym to money. This, however, has biblical origins; see above. The word "mammona" is quite often used in the Finnish and Estonian languages as a synonym to money.
• In Spanish culture, where Mammon is not so well known, the image used to criticize the love of wealth is the golden calf, idolized by the Israelites against the will of God.
• In German the word "Mammon" is a colloquial term for "money".
• In Arabic the word "amaana" means a financial or material trust held for someone else. Its triliteral root is /aleph - mim - nun/ and so it is likely a cognate with Syriac "mámóna". Sumerian, however, is not a Semitic language though it was supplanted by Akkadian, which is Semitic. In the Quran, a character named Haman, is mentioned together with the name Pharaoh on six occasions in two surahs, 28:6; 28:8; 28:38; 29:39; 40:34; and 40:36. Muslim tradition identifies this Haman as a person of incredible wealth.
• In Mexico, "un Mammon" is used to denigrate someone who has a certain superior air about him.