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107-615: The Baal Cycle or Epic of Baal is a collection of stories about the Canaanite Baal, also referred to as Hadad. It was composed between 1400 and 1200 B.C. and rediscovered in the excavation of Ugarit , an ancient city in modern-day Syria . The storm god Adad and the sun god Shamash jointly became the patron gods of oracles and divination in Mesopotamia. In Akkadian, Adad is also known as Rammanu ("Thunderer") cognate with Imperial Aramaic : רעמא Raˁmā and Hebrew : רַעַם Raˁam ,

214-591: A moon god and as Dagan , the grain god . Rather than the bull, Baʿal Hammon was associated with the ram and depicted with his horns. The archaeological record seems to bear out accusations in Roman sources that the Carthaginians burned their children as human sacrifices to him. He was worshipped as Baʿal Karnaim ("Lord of the Two Horns"), particularly at an open-air sanctuary at Jebel Bu Kornein ("Two-Horn Hill") across

321-477: A vegetation god whose death and rebirth is responsible for the Levant 's summer drought and autumn rains. However, Oldenburg argues against this, saying it instead represents "a special catastrophe of drought and infertility when the rain does not come in its season". The cycle’s elaborate details about the building of Ba'al's palace is thought to reflect rites of a forgotten Canaanite autumnal festival that involved

428-505: A 'master', or 'husband'. Cognates include the Akkadian Bēlu ( 𒂗 ), Amharic bal ( ባል ), and Arabic baʿl ( بعل ). Báʿal ( בַּעַל ) and baʿl still serve as the words for 'husband' in modern Hebrew and Arabic respectively. They also appear in some contexts concerning the ownership of things or possession of traits. The feminine form is baʿalah ( Hebrew : בַּעֲלָה ; Arabic : بَعْلَة ), meaning 'mistress' in

535-534: A Northwest Semitic language , and written in a cuneiform abjad . It was discovered on a series of clay tablets found in the 1920s in the Tell of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra ), situated on the Mediterranean coast of northern Syria , a few kilometers north of the modern city of Latakia and far ahead of the current coastline. The stories include The Myth of Baʿal Aliyan and The Death of Baʿal . A critical edition of

642-765: A Phoenician deity and false gods generally were extended during the Protestant Reformation to denote any idols , icons of the saints , or the Catholic Church generally. In such contexts, it follows the anglicized pronunciation and usually omits any mark between its two As. In close transliteration of the Semitic name, the ayin is represented, as Baʿal . In the Northwest Semitic languages — Ugaritic , Phoenician , Hebrew , Amorite , and Aramaic —the word baʿal signified ' owner ' and, by extension, 'lord',

749-462: A byname of Hadad. Many scholars formerly took Rammanu to be an independent Akkadian god, but he was later identified with Hadad. Though originating in northern Mesopotamia, Adad was identified by the same Sumerogram IM that designated Iškur in the south. His worship became widespread in Mesopotamia after the First Babylonian dynasty . A text dating from the reign of Ur-Ninurta characterizes

856-643: A corruption of Migdon (Megiddo) and ultimately of Tammuz-Adon. He would render the verse, "In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem , as the mourning of the women who weep for Tammuz-Adon" ( Adon means "lord"). No further evidence has come to light to resolve such speculations. In the Books of Kings , Jezebel – the wife of the Northern Israelite King Ahab promoted the cult of Ba'al in her adopted nation. John Day argues that Jezebel's Baʿal

963-413: A court like other gods, meaning that he has to live in the dwelling of his father El and Athirat . Anat thus makes a threat against El, threatening to make his grey hair run with blood unless he allows Baʿal to have a palace. The earthquakes at her feet cause El to be exposed from his chamber. Though the text following is lost, it is clear this attempt was unsuccessful, so Baʿal dispatches Qodesh-wa-Amrur ,

1070-472: A feast and to acknowledge his sovereignty. In the ending, which is lost, Mot makes his reply. The final part of the Baʿal cycle is concerned with Baʿal's battle against Mot, a personification of Death . Continuing from the preceding section, Mot concludes his reply to Baʿal. His reply is that he, like a lion in the desert, hungers constantly for human flesh and blood. By inviting Mot to a meal of bread and wine, Mot

1177-506: A great feast for the other gods. When urged by Kothar-wa-Khasis, Ba’al reluctantly opens a window in his palace and sends forth thunder and lightning. He then invites Mot (Death, the god of drought and the underworld), another son of El, to join the feast. But Mot, the eater of human flesh and blood, is insulted when offered only bread and wine. He threatens to break Ba‘al to pieces and swallow him, and even Ba‘al cannot stand against Death. Gaps here make interpretation dubious. It seems that by

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1284-499: A human child, whom he dresses in his robes and offers as a gift to Mot. When the text continues, two deities, presumably Gupan and Ugar arrive at El's abode, and they announce to him that they have been searching for Baʿal, but found him dead by the bank of the river of the dead. El then descends from his throne and sits on the ground, and mourns, strewing dust on his head, wears clothes of sackcloth, shaves off his beard and beats his chest in grief. Anat too wears sackcloth when she finds

1391-481: A kingdom without end, and fetches two divine clubs for Baʿal's use. He gives them magic names, and strikes Yam the first two times himself. Baʿal then drags out Yam and finishes him off. Then Athtart tells Baʿal to scatter his rival, which he does, and then he cries out that Yam is dead, and that he shall be King. A description of the palace of Baʿal follows. It begins with a description of a banquet thrown in honour of Baʿal on Mount Zephon (modern-day Jebel Aqra ). When

1498-457: A magic weapon. Yam then sends word to El, on the mount of Lel , El's abode, demanding the surrender of Baʿal and his henchmen. However, Baʿal, upon hearing this on the mount of Lel attacks the envoys, though Anat and Athtart hold him back. When the story resumes, Baʿal has already started to battle Yam, but is in despair due to the power of Yam, and the fierce sea-creatures. Kothar-wa-Khasis assures Baʿal that he will be victorious and will win

1605-420: A net into the sea so she may have provisions to entertain the guests with. He does so, and when the text continues we see Anat encouraging Baʿal as they come closer to Athirat, reminding that he will have an eternal kingdom. However, Baʿal is still anxious. They persuade Athirat of their case. She proceeds to El's abode, and makes her case. Reluctantly, he gives his assent for a house to be built for Baʿal. Baʿal

1712-438: A personal name. El then proclaims that his name should be 'darling of El'. However, he informs Yam that he would have to drive his rival Baʿal from his throne and the seat of his dominion. Following this there is a banquet. When the story resumes, Kothar-wa-Khasis has arrived under the sea and tells Yam that he has risen presumptuously to his position, and that Baʿal cannot stand idly by. He threatens that Yam will be destroyed by

1819-404: A speaker, who is probably Shapash the sun-goddess, addresses Baʿal. She is advising him to find a substitute in his image, which will be sought out and slain by Mot. She then promises to bury his body, and advises him to go to the two mountains which mark the entrance of the underworld, and to move them aside. Then he is to go down into the earth and hide. He finds a heifer in the fields, and with it

1926-411: A specific rite, and she will give them an important communication for Baʿal, the secret of the lightning. Together, Anat and Baʿal will search for the secret on the hill of Zephon. She replies that she would only perform the rite if Baʿal should set his thunderbolt in the sky and flash his lightning. She then joins Baʿal at Zephon. When the text resumes Baʿal complains to Anat that he hasn't a house, nor

2033-541: A storm and weather god became assimilated into Yahweh's own identification with the storm. In the next stage the Yahwistic religion separated itself from its Canaanite heritage, first by rejecting Baal-worship in the 9th century, then through the 8th to 6th centuries with prophetic condemnation of Baal, sun-worship, worship on the "high places", practices pertaining to the dead, and other matters. Baʿal Zebub ( Hebrew : בעל זבוב , lit.  " Fly Lord") occurs in

2140-500: A sword, shaking him, burning him, crushing him, then throwing his remains to the birds. When the text continues, Anat returns to El and announces that Mot is dead. El then has a dream which tells him that Baʿal lives. Shortly after that, Baʿal returns. However, soon Mot comes back to life and complains to Baʿal of the treatment he has received. He demands that Baʿal surrender one of Mot's brothers. When Mot has returned, Baʿal sends messengers telling him that he will banish him, and that if he

2247-411: A torch down, the purpose of which is not known due to the damaged text, but s/he is confronted by Shapash , who tells her/him that El is to bestow royal power on Yam, and so opposition is useless. Athtar then complains that he has no place or court, and that he now fears defeat at the hands of Yam. Shapash suggests the reason to be that he has no wife, perhaps meaning he is too young. The text following

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2354-542: A vital, popular belief in any foreign gods can be detected in the stories themselves. Baal prophets appeared in Israel centuries later; but during the age of the judges when Israel is supposed to have been most deeply affected by the religion of Canaan, there are no Baal priests or prophets, nor any other intimation of a vital effect of polytheism in Israel’s life. The Deuteronomist and the present form of Jeremiah seem to phrase

2461-596: Is also mentioned as "Winged Baʿal" ( Bʿl Knp ) and "Baʿal of the Arrows" ( Bʿl Ḥẓ ). Phoenician and Aramaic inscriptions describe "Baʿal of the Mace " ( Bʿl Krntryš ), "Baʿal of the Lebanon" ( Bʿl Lbnn ), "Baʿal of Sidon" ( Bʿl Ṣdn ), Bʿl Ṣmd , " Baʿal of the Heavens " ( Baʿal Shamem or Shamayin ), Baʿal ʾAddir ( Bʿl ʾdr ), Baʿal Hammon ( Baʿal Ḥamon ), Bʿl Mgnm . Baʿal Hammon

2568-437: Is appointed to take Ba‘al's place, but he is a poor substitute. Meanwhile, ‘Anat finds Mot, cleaves him with a sword, burns him with fire, and throws his remains to the birds. But the earth is still cracked with drought until Shapsh fetches Ba‘al back. Seven years later Mot returns and attacks Ba‘al, but the battle is quelled when Shapsh tells Mot that El now supports Ba’al. Mot surrenders to Ba‘al and recognizes him as king. In

2675-536: Is dead and warmth is assured. A later passage refers to Ba‘al's victory over Lotan , the many-headed sea dragon. Due to gaps in the text it is not known whether Lotan is another name for Yamm or a character in a similar story. These stories may have been allegories of crops threatened by the winds, storms, and floods from the Mediterranean sea. A palace is built for Ba‘al with silver, gold, and cedar wood from Mount Lebanon and Sirion . In his new palace Ba‘al hosts

2782-468: Is frequently described as "Victorious Baʿal" ( Aliyn or ẢlỈyn Baʿal ), "Mightiest one" ( Aliy or ʿAly ) or "Mightiest of the Heroes" ( Aliy Qrdm ), "The Powerful One" ( Dmrn ), and in his role as patron of the city "Baʿal of Ugarit" ( Baʿal Ugarit ). As Baʿal Zaphon ( Baʿal Ṣapunu ), he was particularly associated with his palace atop Jebel Aqra (the ancient Mount Ṣapānu and classical Mons Casius). He

2889-416: Is hungry, he may eat the servants of Baʿal. However, this fails to please Mot, and so the two gods fight on Mount Zephon until exhausted. Shapash arrives and warns Mot that fighting Baʿal is useless, and that El is now on Baʿal's side and will overturn Mot's throne. Mot is afraid, and so declares that Baʿal is king. The death of Baʿal and the reign of Mot has been regarded as a seasonal myth, marking Baʿal as

2996-399: Is in danger of passing to Mot. He then sends messengers to Sheger and Ithm, who are responsible for Cattle and Sheep, and asks them to provide animals for a feast, to which he will invite Mot. When the texts continue, a messenger from Mot arrives in the divine assembly, demanding to know where Baʿal is. They both go up to El's house where El asks what has been happening. When the text continues,

3103-505: Is limited, attained by difficult single combat and with the help of other gods, and his overcoming of his enemies is not permanent. The beginning of the story of the battle between Baʿal and Yam is lost, but we first hear of Kothar-wa-Khasis , the craftsman of the gods being summoned to El , who resides at the confluence of the rivers and the two oceans. El tells him to build a palace for Yam, and to do so quickly in case Yam should take hostile action. When Athtar hears of this, s/he takes

3210-443: Is lost, but resumes with El sitting in his banquet hall. Here he is addressed by the other deities, who complain that Yam is being put to shame, though the damaged text makes the reason unclear, it is clear the reason is connected to his palace. The gods threaten that unless this situation is resolved they will wreak destruction. El gives them curdled milk , apparently a mark of esteem. El calls that his son's name hitherto has been Yaw,

3317-409: Is mostly applied to worshippers of Baal, or descendants of the worshippers of Baal. Names including the element Baʿal presumably in reference to Yahweh include the judge Gideon (also known as Jerubaʿal, lit.  "The Lord Strives"), Saul 's son Eshbaʿal ("The Lord is Great"), and David 's son Beeliada ("The Lord Knows"). The name Bealiah ("The Lord is Jah "; "Yahweh is Baʿal") combined

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3424-460: Is not tall enough, confirming El's suspicion that he is too weak for the position. When the text recontinues, Anat is searching in the netherworld for the shade of her brother. She demands that Mot restores him to her. However, Mot answers that he had searched for him over the earth, where he found him at the entrance of his domain, and then he simply ate him. Anat continues her search, until she loses patience, and she seizes Mot, and attacks him with

3531-431: Is offended, and threatens to cause the heavens to wilt and collapse, breaking Baʿal into pieces. Mot then will eat him piece by piece. When the text continues, Baʿal, or a speaker on his behalf admits his fear and dread of Mot. The speaker then tells Gupan and Ugar to go back to Mot and tell him that Baʿal will be eternally his slave, news to which Mot rejoices. When the text continues Baʿal complains to El that his dominion

3638-508: Is pregnant by Sky. This appears to be an attempt to combine two accounts of Hadad's parentage, one of which is the Ugaritic tradition that Hadad was son of Dagon. The cognate Akkadian god Adad is also often called the son of Anu ("Sky"). The corresponding Hittite god Teshub is likewise son of Anu (after a fashion). In Sanchuniathon's account, it is Sky who first fights against Pontus ("Sea"). Then Sky allies himself with Hadad. Hadad takes over

3745-721: Is then instructed to collect cedar-wood, bricks and precious metals in order to build his house. Kothar-wa-Khasis builds him a palace, but Baʿal insists that it is built without windows, in case that his daughters may escape, or that Yam may come again and trouble him. The work is completed and Baʿal rejoices. When the text resumes, Baʿal recalls his triumph over Yam, and then marches out taking many cities his own. He then consents to having windows to his Palace, and does so by thundering them out. While sitting in his palace he asks himself whether anybody would resist his power, and if anybody should, he should send word to Mot, god of death, to deal with them. He sends two messengers to Mot inviting him to

3852-516: Is usually mentioned along with other gods, "his own field of action being seldom defined". Nonetheless, Ugaritic records show him as a weather god , with particular power over lightning , wind , rain , and fertility . The dry summers of the area were explained as Baʿal's time in the underworld , and his return in autumn was said to have caused the storms that revived the land. Thus, the worship of Baʿal in Canaan —where he eventually supplanted El as

3959-717: The Amherst Papyrus , Baal Zephon (Hadad) is identified with the Egyptian god Horus : "May Baal from Zephon bless you", Amherst Papyrus 63 , 7:3 and in 11:13–14: "and from Zephon may Horus help us". Classical sources translate this name as Zeus Kasios , since in Pelusium, the statue of Zeus Kasios was considered the image of Harpocrates (Horus the Child). Zeus Casius had inherited some traits from Apollo as well. They also recall his conflict with Typhon over that mountain ( Mount Casius on

4066-542: The Baal Cycle from Ugarit are fragmentary and assume much background knowledge. The supreme god El resides on Mount Lel (Night?) where the assembly of the gods meets. At the beginning of the cycle, there appears to a feud between El and Ba‘al. El appoints one of his sons, called both prince Yamm (Sea) and judge Nahar (River), as king over the gods and changes Yamm's name from yw to mdd ’il (darling of El). El tells his son that he will have to drive off Ba‘al to secure

4173-576: The Chronicler(s) disapproved of both "Baals" whilst the Deuteronomists used "Baals" for any god they disapproved of. Likewise, Mark S. Smith believes Yahweh was more likely to be inspired by Baal rather than El, since both are stormy divine warriors and lack the pacifistic traits of El according to the Ugaritic texts and Hebrew Bible. Baʿal Berith ("Lord of the Covenant ") was a god worshipped by

4280-614: The Hebrew Bible in reference to various gods. The priests of the Canaanite Baʿal are mentioned numerous times, most prominently in the First Book of Kings . Many scholars believe that this describes Jezebel 's attempt to introduce the worship of the Baʿal of Tyre , Melqart , to the Israelite capital Samaria in the 9th century BCE. Against this, Day argues that Jezebel's Baʿal

4387-575: The Israelites when they "went astray" after the death of Gideon according to the Hebrew Scriptures . The same source relates that Gideon's son Abimelech went to his mother's kin at Shechem and received 70 shekels of silver "from the House of Baʿal Berith" to assist in killing his 70 brothers from Gideon's other wives. An earlier passage had made Shechem the scene of Joshua 's covenant between all

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4494-469: The Mesopotamian and Semitic pantheons . Only a definitive article , genitive or epithet , or context could establish which particular god was meant. Baʿal was also used as a proper name by the third millennium BC, when he appears in a list of deities at Abu Salabikh . Most modern scholarship asserts that this Baʿal—usually distinguished as "The Lord" ( ה בעל , Ha Baʿal )—was identical with

4601-528: The Targum , the death of Ahab at the hands of Hadadrimmon). But even before the discovery of the Ugaritic texts, some suspected that Hadad-rimmon might be a dying-and-rising god like Adonis or Tammuz , perhaps even the same as Tammuz, and the allusion could then be to mournings for Hadad such as those of Adonis festivals. T. K. Cheyne pointed out that the Septuagint reads simply Rimmon, and argues that this may be

4708-483: The early Hebrews did use the names Baʿal ("Lord") and Baʿali ("My Lord") in reference to the Lord of Israel, just as Baʿal farther north designated the Lord of Ugarit or Lebanon. This occurred both directly and as the divine element of some Hebrew theophoric names . However, according to others it is not certain that the name Baal was definitely applied to Yahweh in early Israelite history. The component Baal in proper names

4815-579: The patron of sailors and sea-going merchants. As vanquisher of Mot , the Canaanite death god , he was known as Baʿal Rāpiʾuma ( Bʿl Rpu ) and regarded as the leader of the Rephaim ( Rpum ), the ancestral spirits, particularly those of ruling dynasties. From Canaan, worship of Baʿal spread to Egypt by the Middle Kingdom and throughout the Mediterranean following the waves of Phoenician colonization in

4922-531: The storm and fertility god Hadad; it also appears in the form Baʿal Haddu . Scholars propose that, as the cult of Hadad increased in importance, his true name came to be seen as too holy for any but the high priest to speak aloud and the alias "Lord" ("Baʿal") was used instead, as " Bel " was used for Marduk among the Babylonians and " Adonai " for Yahweh among the Israelites. A minority propose that Baʿal

5029-406: The theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities , but inscriptions have shown that the name Ba'al was particularly associated with the storm and fertility god Hadad and his local manifestations. The Hebrew Bible includes use of the term in reference to various Levantine deities , often with application towards Hadad, who was decried as a false god . That use

5136-409: The tribes of Israel and " El Yahweh , our god of Israel " and a later one describes it as the location of the "House of El Berith". It is thus unclear whether the false worship of the "Baʿalim" being decried is the worship of a new idol or rites and teachings placing Yahweh as a mere local god within a larger pantheon. The Hebrew Scriptures record the worship of Baʿal threatening Israel from

5243-514: The "Twisted Serpent" ( Bṭn ʿqltn ), " Lotan the Fugitive Serpent" ( Ltn Bṭn Brḥ , the biblical Leviathan ), and the " Mighty One with Seven Heads " ( Šlyṭ D.šbʿt Rašm ). Baʿal's conflict with Yammu is now generally regarded as the prototype of the vision recorded in the 7th chapter of the biblical Book of Daniel . As vanquisher of the sea, the Canaanites and Phoenicians regarded Baʿal as

5350-564: The Baal Cycle (Baal's victory over the Sea god Yam, his heavenly enthronement in his palace, and his battles against Mot, the underworld god). Ba%E2%80%98al Baal ( / ˈ b eɪ . əl , ˈ b ɑː . əl / ), or Baʻal , was a title and honorific meaning 'owner' or ' lord ' in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity . From its use among people, it came to be applied to gods. Scholars previously associated

5457-472: The Baal Cycle was published by Virolleaud in 1938. Recently, a fragment of the Baal Cycle has been discovered in pre-Islamic Arabia . The Baʿal Cycle series of stories are summarized as: The main characters of the Baal Cycle are as follows: Though Baal attains kingship, he is not to be compared to the exalted status gods of other narratives like Marduk from the Enuma Elish or Yahweh . His kingship

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5564-657: The Earth" as false gods. Baalim and Ashtaroth are given as the collective names of the male and female demons (respectively) who came from between the "bordering flood of old Euphrates " and "the Brook that parts Egypt from Syrian ground". Baal and derived epithets like Baalist were used as slurs during the English Reformation for the saints and their devotees. The Quran mentions that Prophet Elias ( Elijah ) warned his people against Baʿal worship. And Indeed, Elijah

5671-797: The Egyptian Horus in that capacity (comparable to Baalshamin as well). The different interpretation could also be based on the fact that Set had been associated with Hadad by the Hyksos . Most likely originally Set referred to another deity also addressed by the title "Baal" (one of the many; an example of this would be the Baal of Tyre ) who happened to display storm-like traits especially in Egypt since they were foreign and as such duly emphasized; when instead his weather features probably weren't all that prominent in other cultures who worshipped equivalents of him, but given that

5778-524: The Egyptian land who brought their gods with them, and their main god happened to display storm-like traits and was also associated with these foreigners who came to Egypt , a characteristic that would make him similar to the perception that the Egyptians had of Set. This would once again echo the mythological motif of a previous chief of the Pantheon who gets replaced by the new generation of deities represented by

5885-529: The Syrian–Turkish border or Casion near Pelusium in Egypt). The reason why Baal could be both identified with Horus and his rival Set ; is because in Egypt the element of the storm was considered foreign as Set was a god of strangers and outsiders, thus because the Egyptians had no better alternative to identify their native god Set with another neighboring deity, they tentatively associated him with Hadad since he

5992-419: The advice of the sun goddess Shapash , Ba‘al mates with a heifer and dresses the resultant calf in his own clothes as a gift to Mot, and then himself prepares to go down to the underworld in the guise of a helpless shade. News of Ba‘al's apparent death leads even El to mourn. Ba‘al's sister ‘ Anat finds Ba‘al's corpse, presumably really the dead calf, and she buries the body with a funeral feast. The god ‘Athtar

6099-410: The assistant or companion of these more prominent gods. When Enki distributed the destinies, he made Iškur inspector of the cosmos. In one litany, Iškur is proclaimed again and again as "great radiant bull, your name is heaven" and also called son of Anu , lord of Karkara; twin-brother of Enki , lord of abundance, lord who rides the storm, lion of heaven. In other texts Adad/Iškur is sometimes son of

6206-406: The attendant of Athirat, to deliver a message to Kothar-wa-Khasis, whose home is in Egypt. When the text continues, Qodesh-wa-Amrur delivers Baʿal's message, which is that Kothar-wa-Khasis should fashion gifts for Athirat, presumably so she will support Baʿal's bid for a palace. He enters his forge, and produces magnificent pieces of furniture, a pair of sandals, and a decorated table and bowl. When

6313-679: The bay from Carthage. His consort was the goddess Tanit . The epithet Hammon is obscure. Most often, it is connected with the NW Semitic ḥammān (" brazier ") and associated with a role as a sun god . Renan and Gibson linked it to Hammon (modern Umm el-‘Amed between Tyre in Lebanon and Acre in Israel ) and Cross and Lipiński to Haman or Khamōn, the classical Mount Amanus and modern Nur Mountains, which separate northern Syria from southeastern Cilicia . Baʿal (בַּעַל) appears about 90 times in

6420-509: The building of booths representing Ba'al's palace (perhaps a precursor to the Jewish holiday of Sukkot ), and a Canaanite belief that building them precisely was imperative to renewal of the rains. The Ugaritic Baal Cycle is one of several ancient near eastern narratives that record a cosmic battle between a sea and a storm god. Such narratives are also known from ancient Israel and Judah , Babylonia , Ancient Egypt , and Anatolia . In particular,

6527-489: The ceremonies to determine the divine will: through inspecting a sacrificial animal's liver, the action of oil bubbles in a basin of water, or the movements of the heavenly bodies. They are similarly addressed in royal annals and votive inscriptions as bele biri (lords of divination). In religious texts, Ba‘al /Hadad is the lord of the sky who governs rain and crops, master of fertility and protector of life and growth. His absence brings drought, starvation, and chaos. Texts of

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6634-676: The clouds" and Yahweh's "rider of the heavens." Like English ride, rkb has equine and sexual uses. The spelling of the English term "Baal" derives from the Greek Báal ( Βάαλ ) which appears in the New Testament and Septuagint , and from its Latinized form Baal , which appears in the Vulgate . These forms in turn derive from the vowel-less Northwest Semitic form BʿL ( Phoenician and Punic : 𐤁𐤏𐤋 ). The word's biblical senses as

6741-631: The conflict but is defeated, at which point unfortunately no more is said of this matter. Sanchuniathion agrees with Ugaritic tradition in making Muth, the Ugaritic Mot, whom he also calls "Death", the son of El. Baal Cycle The Baal Cycle is an Ugaritic text (c. 1500–1300 BCE) about the Canaanite god Baʿal ( lit. "Owner", "Lord"), a storm god associated with fertility . The Baal Cycle consists of six tablets, itemized as KTU 1.1–1.6. Tablets one (KTU 1.1) and two (KTU 1.2) are about

6848-471: The control of nature, tends to imbue him with some traits of a solar deity. According to Alberto Green, descriptions of Adad starting in the Kassite period and in the region of Mari emphasize his destructive, stormy character and his role as a fearsome warrior deity, in contrast to Iškur's more peaceful and pastoral character. Shamash and Adad jointly became the gods of oracles and divination, invoked in all

6955-492: The cosmic battle between the storm-god Baal and the sea god Yam , where the former attains victory. The next two tablets (KTU 1.3–1.4) describe the construction of Baal's palace that marks his cosmic kingship. The last two tablets (KTU 1.5–1.6) describe Baal's struggles against Mot , the god of the underworld. The text identifies Baal as the god Hadad , the Northwest Semitic form of Adad . The stories are written in Ugaritic ,

7062-410: The deity's original name. The word Hadad-rimmon (or Hadar-rimmon ) in the phrase "the mourning of (or at) Hadad-rimmon ", has aroused much discussion. According to Jerome and the older Christian interpreters, the mourning is for something that occurred at a place called Hadad-rimmon ( Maximianopolis ) in the valley of Megiddo . This event was generally held to be the death of Josiah (or, as in

7169-427: The doers of good. (131) Indeed, he was of Our believing servants. (132). Quran Surah 37 , verses 123-132 According to Tabari , baal is a term used by Arabs to denote everything which is a lord over anything. Al-Thaʿlabī offers a more detailed description about Baal; accordingly it was an idol of gold, twenty cubits tall, and had four faces. The trilateral root, ( bā, ayn, lam) baʿl occurs seven times in

7276-534: The early 1st millennium BCE. He was described with diverse epithets, and before Ugarit was rediscovered, these were supposed to refer to distinct local gods. However, as explained by Day , the texts at Ugarit revealed that they were considered "local manifestations of this particular deity, analogous to the local manifestations of the Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Church ". In those inscriptions, he

7383-412: The fake dead body. Shapash aids Anat in burying Baʿal upon Mount Zephon, and Anat slaughters large numbers of oxen, sheep, goats, and asses as a memorial. Anat returns to El, and tells Athirat and her family (many of whom were on the side of Mot) that they can rejoice since Baʿal was dead. El asks Athirat who can he appoint in Baʿal's place, and she suggests Athtar. Athtar seats himself on Baʿal's throne but

7490-553: The first chapter of the Second Book of Kings as the name of the Philistine god of Ekron . In it, Ahaziah , king of Israel , is said to have consulted the priests of Baʿal Zebub as to whether he would survive the injuries from his recent fall. The prophet Elijah , incensed at this impiety, then foretold that he would die quickly, raining heavenly fire on the soldiers sent to punish him for doing so. Jewish scholars have interpreted

7597-522: The genre of Sumerian and Akkadian disputation poems. Some have contended that the contest between Baʿal and Yam is a prototype for the vision recorded in the 7th chapter of the Biblical Book of Daniel . Others have related the sequence of eschatological events in Revelation 21 :1–4 (death of the Sea, coming of the city of heaven to earth, and the final defeat of Death) to the narrative progression of

7704-670: The god Dagānu . She was also called Gubarra in the earliest texts. The fire god Gibil (Girra in Akkadian) is sometimes the son of Iškur and Shala. He is identified with the Anatolian storm-god Teshub , whom the Mitannians designated with the same Sumerogram IM . Occasionally he is identified with the Amorite god Amurru . The Babylonian center of Adad/Iškur's cult was Karkara in the south, his chief temple being É.Kar.kar.a ; his spouse Shala

7811-404: The leader of the gods and patron of kingship—was connected to the region's dependence on rainfall for its agriculture, unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia , which focused on irrigation from their major rivers. Anxiety about water availability for crops and trees increased the importance of his cult, which focused attention on his role as a rain god. He was also called upon during battle, showing that he

7918-467: The moon god Nanna/Sin by Ningal and brother of Utu /Shamash and Inanna /Ishtar. He is also sometimes described as the son of Enlil. The bull was portrayed as Adad/Iškur's sacred animal starting in the Old Babylonian period (early 2nd millennium BCE). Adad/Iškur's consort (both in early Sumerian and the much later Assyrian texts) was the grain goddess Shala , who is also sometimes associated with

8025-407: The one hand, he brings rain in due season to fertilize the land; on the other, he sends storms to wreak havoc and destruction. He is pictured on monuments and cylinder seals (sometimes with a horned helmet ) with the lightning and the thunderbolt (sometimes in the form of a spear), and in hymns his sombre aspects predominate. His association with the sun-god Shamash, with the two deities alternating in

8132-517: The only storm-god available for identification in Semitic culture was Hadad and in Hittite Sutekh (a war-god who's been hypothesized to be an alternative name of Teshub , but it remains unclear), the traits matched the characteristics of the Egyptian deity, and an association between the two was considered plausible, also given by the fact that both the Hittites and Semitic Hyksos were foreigners in

8239-502: The priests of Baʿal, after which it began to rain, showing Yahweh's mastery over the weather. Other references to the priests of Baʿal describe their burning of incense in prayer and their offering of sacrifice while adorned in special vestments . The title baʿal was a synonym in some contexts of the Hebrew adon ("Lord") and adonai ("My Lord") still used as aliases of the Lord of Israel Yahweh . According to some scholars,

8346-569: The sense of a female owner or lady of the house and still serving as a rare word for 'wife'. Suggestions in early modern scholarship also included comparison with the Celtic god Belenus , however this is now widely rejected by contemporary scholars. Like En in Sumerian , the Akkadian bēlu and Northwest Semitic baʿal (as well as its feminine form baʿalah ) was used as a title of various deities in

8453-473: The struggle as monolatry or monotheism against polytheism . Yahweh is frequently identified in the Hebrew scriptures with El Elyon , however, this was after a conflation with El in a process of religious syncretism . ’El ( Hebrew : אל ) became a generic term meaning "god", as opposed to the name of a worshipped deity, and epithets such as El Shaddai came to be applied to Yahweh alone, while Baal's nature as

8560-495: The text continues we see Athirat performing her woman's work by the seashore, when she then sees Baʿal and Anat approaching. She wonders whether he has come to kill all her sons and kinsfolk, perhaps a reference to the Hittite myth of Elkunirsa where the storm-god boasts of having killed the many sons of Athirat. However, her anger subsides when she sees the gifts, and so supports Baʿal in his bid, and she calls upon Qodesh-wa-Amrur to cast

8667-538: The text resumes, we see Anat closing the door of her mansion and meeting her servants in a valley where there are two cities, which possibly represent Ugarit and its port. She kills the guards and warriors, and then drives away the townspeople. She then slaughters the guards and warriors in her palace, ending with a peace-offering. When the text resumes again, Baʿal is addressing his messengers, picturing his sister Anat sitting with her lyre and singing of her affection for him and his daughters. The messengers are told to perform

8774-544: The throne. In this battle Ba‘al is somehow weakened, but the divine craftsman Kothar-wa-Khasis crafts two magic clubs for Ba’al as weapons that help Ba’al strike down Yamm and Ba'al is supreme. ‘Athtart proclaims Ba‘al's victory and salutes Ba‘al/Hadad as lrkb ‘rpt (Rider on the Clouds), a phrase applied by editors of modern English Bibles to Yahweh in Psalm 68.4. At ‘Athtart's urging Ba‘al "scatters" Yamm and proclaims that he

8881-566: The time of the Judges until the monarchy . However, during the period of Judges such worship seems to have been an occasional deviation from a deeper and more constant worship of Yahweh: Throughout all the stories of Judges the popular faith in YHWH runs as a powerful current. This faith raises the judges, and inspires poets, prophets, and Nazirites. ... Worship of Baals and Ashtoreths has been schematically interspersed between these chapters, but no trace of

8988-693: The title of "Lord of the Flies" as the Hebrew way of calling Baʿal a pile of dung and his followers vermin , although others argue for a link to power over causing and curing pestilence and thus suitable for Ahaziah's question. The Septuagint renders the name as Baälzeboúb ( βααλζεβούβ ) and as "Baʿal of Flies" ( βααλ μυιαν , Baäl muian ). Symmachus the Ebionite rendered it as Beëlzeboúl ( Βεελζεβούλ ), possibly reflecting its original sense. This has been proposed to have been B‘l Zbl , Ugaritic for "Prince Baal". Outside of Jewish and Christian contexts,

9095-617: The tribute of statue of Ishtar from the king of Mari , to be displayed in the temple of Hadad in Halab Citadel. Hadad is called "the god of Aleppo " on a stele of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser I . The element Hadad appears in a number of theophoric names borne by kings of the region. Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in Moab, was the fourth king of Edom. Hadadezer ("Hadad-is-help")

9202-483: The twelve sons of Ishmael is also named Hadad. A set of related bynames include Aramaic rmn , Old South Arabic rmn , Hebrew rmwn , and Akkadian Rammānu ("Thunderer"), presumably originally vocalized as Ramān in Aramaic and Hebrew. The Hebrew spelling rmwn with Masoretic vocalization Rimmôn is identical with the Hebrew word meaning ' pomegranate ' and may be an intentional misspelling and/or parody of

9309-466: The two sides of Adad/Iškur as threatening in his stormy rage, and benevolent in giving life. Iškur appears in the list of gods found at Shuruppak but was of far less importance, perhaps because storms and rain were scarce in Sumer and agriculture there depended on irrigation instead. The gods Enlil and Ninurta also had storm god features that diminished Iškur's distinct role, and he sometimes appears as

9416-438: The two. However John Day states that as far as the names Eshba’al, Meriba’al, and Beeliada (that is Baaliada), are concerned it is not certain whether they simply allude to the Canaanite god Ba’al, or are intended to equate Yahweh with Ba’al, or have no connection to Ba’al. It was the program of Jezebel , in the 9th century BCE, to introduce into Israel's capital city of Samaria her Phoenician worship of Baal as opposed to

9523-500: The two. Hosea's references to sexual acts being metaphors for Israelite "apostasy". Brian P. Irwin argues that "Baal" in northern Israelite traditions is a form of Yahweh that was rejected as foreign by the prophets. In southern Israelite traditions, "Baal" was a god that was worshipped in Jerusalem. His worshippers saw him as compatible or identical with Yahweh and honored him with human sacrifices and fragrant meal offerings. Eventually,

9630-516: The various forms of Baʿal were indifferently rendered in classical sources as Belus ( Ancient Greek : Βῆλος , Bē̂los ). An example is Josephus , who states that Jezebel "built a temple to the god of the Tyrians , which they call Belus"; this describes the Baʿal of Tyre, Melqart . Herrmann identifies the Demarus/Demarous figure mentioned by Philo Byblius as Baʿal. Baʿal Hammon , however,

9737-475: The version of this sea/storm god battle in the Baal Cycle more closely groups with other versions found from Egypt and Anatolia (which may be termed "Version A"), whereas the Israelite and Babylonian versions group with each other (which may be termed "Version B"). The ancestral version of the two versions has the following general sequence: Version B is distinguished with its placement of a creation narrative after

9844-497: The victory of the storm god. Version A on the other hand (including the Baal Cycle) has additional elements between (1) and (2), where the sea god seeks to exact tribute from the other gods, followed by an attempt from the grain goddess to appease the storm god, finally followed by the grain goddess attempting to seduce the storm god. The closing hymn of the Baal Cycle, on the sixth and final tablet, has been related by Ayali-Darshan to

9951-554: The worship of Yahweh that made the name anathema to the Israelites. At first the name Baal was used by the Jews for their God without discrimination, but as the struggle between the two religions developed, the name Baal was given up by the Israelites as a thing of shame, and even names like Jerubbaal were changed to Jerubbosheth: Hebrew bosheth means "shame". Eshbaʿal became Ish-bosheth and Meribaʿal became Mephibosheth , but other possibilities also occurred. Gideon's name Jerubaʿal

10058-449: The younger ascendant ruler and newly appointed chief of the gods, as is the case also for the Hittite "Cycle of Kumarbi " where Teshub displaces the previously established father of the gods Kumarbi. In Amherst XII/15 the same identification as before is once again stated: "Baal from Zephon, Horus" (BT mn Şpn Hr). In the second millennium BCE, the king of Yamhad or Halab (modern Aleppo ), who claimed to be "beloved of Hadad", received

10165-516: Was a native Canaanite deity whose cult was identified with or absorbed aspects of Adad 's. Regardless of their original relationship, by the 1st millennium BCE, the two were distinct: Hadad was worshiped by the Aramaeans and Baʿal by the Phoenicians and other Canaanites . Baʿal is well-attested in surviving inscriptions and was popular in theophoric names throughout the Levant but he

10272-435: Was a storm-god, but when the god Baal (Hadad) is not specifically attributed the traits of rain and thunder and is instead perceived as a god of the sky generically, which is what is embodied by his form "Baal Zaphon" as the chief deity who resides on the mountain (for example a 14th-century letter from the king of Ugarit to the Egyptian pharaoh places Baʿal Zaphon as equivalent to Amun also), in that case he's more similar to

10379-467: Was among the messengers , (123) When he said to his people: "Will you not fear Allah? (124) Do you call upon Ba'l and leave the best of creators - (125) Allah, your Lord and the Lord of your first forefathers?" (126) And they denied him, so indeed, they will be brought [for punishment ], (127) Except the chosen servants of Allah. (128) And we left for him [favorable mention] among later generations: (129) Peace be upon Ilyāseen*. (130) Indeed, We thus reward

10486-707: Was identified with the Greek Cronos and the Roman Saturn as the Zabul Saturn. He was probably never equated with Melqart, although this assertion appears in older scholarship. Beelzebub or Beelzebul was identified by the writers of the New Testament as Satan , " prince " (i.e., king ) of the demons . John Milton 's 1667 epic Paradise Lost describes the fallen angels collecting around Satan, stating that, though their heavenly names had been "blotted out and ras'd", they would acquire new ones "wandring ore

10593-509: Was mentioned intact but glossed as a mockery of the Canaanite god, implying that he strove in vain. Direct use of Baʿali continued at least as late as the time of the prophet Hosea , who reproached the Israelites for doing so. Brad E. Kelle has suggested that references to cultic sexual practices in the worship of Baal, in Hosea 2, are evidence of an historical situation in which Israelites were either giving up Yahweh worship for Baal, or blending

10700-502: Was more probably Baʿal Shamem , the Lord of the Heavens, a title most often applied to Hadad, who is also often titled just Ba‘al. 1 Kings 18 records an account of a contest between the prophet Elijah and Jezebel's priests. Both sides offered a sacrifice to their respective gods: Ba'al failed to light his followers' sacrifice while Yahweh 's heavenly fire burnt Elijah's altar to ashes, even after it had been soaked with water. The observers then followed Elijah's instructions to slay

10807-474: Was possibly Baʿal Shamem (Lord of the Heavens), a title most often applied to Hadad. In Sanchuniathon 's account Hadad is once called Adodos, but is mostly named Demarûs. This is a puzzling form, probably from Ugaritic dmrn , which appears in parallelism with Hadad, or possibly a Greek corruption of Hadad Ramān . Sanchuniathon's Hadad is son of Sky by a concubine who is then given to the god Dagon while she

10914-452: Was taken over into Christianity and Islam , sometimes under the form Beelzebub in demonology . The Ugaritic god Baal is the protagonist of one of the lengthiest surviving epics from the ancient Near East , the Baal Cycle . Ba'al's widely used epithet is "rider (or mounter ) of the clouds." ( rkb 'rpt cf rkb b'rbt in Ps. 68:5; Ugaritic kb 'rpt .) These are related to Zeus's "gatherer of

11021-583: Was the Aramean king defeated by David . Later Aramean kings of Damascus seem to have habitually assumed the title of Ben-Hadad (son of Hadad). One was Ben-Hadad , the king of Aram whom the Judean king Asa sent to invade the northern Kingdom of Israel . A votive basalt stele from the 9th or 8th century, BCE found in Bredsh north of Aleppo, is dedicated to Melqart and bears the name Ben-Hadad, king of Aram. The seventh of

11128-404: Was thought to intervene actively in the world of man, unlike the more aloof El. The Lebanese city of Baalbeck was named after Baal. Alternatively, Ba' al is a divine co-regent with El, where El was the executive while Ba' al was the sustainer of the cosmos. The Baʿal of Ugarit was the epithet of Hadad, but as time passed, the epithet became the god's name while Hadad became the epithet. Baʿal

11235-464: Was usually said to be the son of Dagan , but appears as one of the sons of El in Ugaritic sources. Both Baʿal and El were associated with the bull in Ugaritic texts, as they symbolized both strength and fertility. He held special enmity against snakes, both on their own and as representatives of Yammu ( lit.  "Sea"), the Canaanite sea god and river god . He fought the Tannin ( Tunnanu ),

11342-609: Was worshipped in a temple named É.Dur.ku . In Assyria , Adad was developed along with his warrior aspect. During the Middle Assyrian Empire , from the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I (1115–1077 BCE), Adad had a double sanctuary with Anu in Assur , and the two are often associated in invocations. The name Adad and various alternate forms ( Dadu , Bir , Dadda ) are often found in Assyrian king names. Adad/Iškur presents two aspects in hymns, incantations, and votive inscriptions. On

11449-455: Was worshipped in the Tyrian colony of Carthage as their supreme god . It is believed that this position developed in the 5th century BCE following the severing of its ties to Tyre following the 480 BCE Battle of Himera . Like Hadad, Baʿal Hammon was a fertility god . Inscriptions about Punic deities tend to be rather uninformative, though, and he has been variously identified as

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