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Baal God |
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Common
epithets of Baal:
Most High Prince/Master - ŽalŽiyn. b`l, ŽalŽiyanu ba`lu
Conqueror of Warriors - ŽalŽiy. qrdm, ŽalŽiyu qarradima
Mightiest, Most High, Supreme, Powerful, Puissant - ŽalŽiyn, ŽalŽiyanu, aleyin,
eleyin, aliyin, eliyan, elioun
Warrior - dmrn, damaron, Demarous (Greek)
Hadd, Haddad, Hadad, Hadu, Adad, Addu - hdd
Prince, Master of the Earth - zebul ba`al Žaretz or zubulu ba`lu Žaretsi
Pidar, uncertain meaning, possibly Bright, Flash - pdr, Pidar
Rider on the Clouds - rkb `rpt, rakab arpat or rakibu `arpati
Thunderer - r`mn, rimmon or re`amin
Gapen & Ugar, Vineyard and Field, Baal's pages or messengers - gepanu wa ugaru
Ba`al is the god most actively worshipped in Canaan and Phoenicia, the Storm God, source
of the winter rain storms, spring mist, and summer dew which nourish the crops. Therefore
He is considered responsible for fecundity, particularly of the Earth, for the growth of
vegetation, and for the maintenance of life. None the less, He is NOT a god of vegetation.
While the word "ba`al" means simply "master" or "owner," He
is considered a prince. Among His other epithets are Rider of the Clouds, Prince, Master
of the Earth ( c.f. the Qabalistic phrase Melek haŽAretz, King of the Earth). Ba`al is an
executive force, dynamic, and able to accomplish what He sets out to do. Ba`al is often
depicted striding forward, wearing a horned helmet and short wrap kilt, carrying a mace
and spear or lightning-bolt staff. Another of His names is Re`ammin, meaning Thunderer. He
is also called ŽAleyin, meaning "Most High," "Mightiest," "Most
Powerful," or "Supreme," which some scholars have misinterpreted as the
name of a son of Ba`al. As a weather god, His home is in the Heights of Tsaphon, Mount of
the North. Remnants of His worship survive in the Jewish prayerbook in late spring prayers
for dew and late fall prayers for rain.
In fact Ba`al is the son of Dagan/Dagnu, Himself a god of agriculture and storms, and not
actually a son of ŽEl. Through a series of conflicts and competitions with other gods,
Ba`al achieves a position subordinate only to ŽEl among gods. However, He defers to
ŽAsherah and often enlists Her favors when He must approach ŽEl. He also relies upon His
sister `Anat, who is may be His mate, although not His wife. At times He transforms into a
bull and She into a heifer, to stress their fertility, and together they "bring forth
seventy, even eighty calves," i.e., many progeny. He is never called "The
Bull," however, which title is limited to ŽEl. Ba`al's assistants are Gapen and
Ugar, whose names mean, respectively, "Vineyard" and "Grain Field,"
again stressing Ba`al's relationship with the fertile, life-giving earth.
While embodying royal power and authority, Ba`al is not aloof nor beyond the menace of
evil. He is continually threatened yet triumphant, as in the story of His continual
conflict to sustain Order against Chaos with the god Yahm and to sustain Life against
Death with Mot (Mawet/ Mavet in Hebrew), the god of drought, blight, sterility, and decay.
Ba`al is also identified as Hadad, an Akkadian and Babylonian god of the sky, clouds, and
rain, both creative, gentle showers and destructive, devastating storms and floods. Like
the Canaanite Ba`al, Hadad holds and hurls thunder-bolts. Haddad rides a bull.
His home, the Mountain Divine Tsapan, is known in Hittite as Mount Hazzi dkhursân khazi,
in Akkadian as ba`litsapûna, in Greek as Kasios and in Latin as mons Casius, in modern
Arabic as Jebel Žel-Aqra` and in Modern Turkish as Keldag. It stands 5660 feet (1780
meters) in height, the peak lying about 25 miles to the north of Ugarit and 2.5 miles from
the coast. Tsapan is well-suited as home of the great storm-god, as this mountain receives
the heaviest annual rainfall on the Levantine coast at over 57 inches. Being close to the
holy mountain was so important that there were other Mount Tsaphons near distant
Phoenician settlements in Egypt and in Spain.
Because, as with ŽEl, the name Ba`al is a title more than a name, there are numerous
"Ba`al's." Among them are:
Ba`al Lebanon, Master of the Cedars
Ba`al Tsaphon, Master of the North or northern districts
Ba`al Adir, Master-of-Help
Ba`al Kaneph, Winged Ba`al
Ba`al Moganim, Master of the Shields
Ba`al MarpahŽa, Master of Healing
Ba`al Shamim, Master of the Heavens.
During the long period of trade and exchange between the Canaanites/ Phoenicians with the
Egyptians, Ba`al was associated with several Egyptian gods. One is Amon, the ram headed
god of fertility, agriculture, air or breath of life, whose name means "hidden,"
just as Ba`al is sometimes hidden among the clouds. There may also be a relationship
between Amon and Ba`al Hammon. As Ba`al Hammon/Khamon, He is the chief Carthaginian god of
sky and vegetation, depicted as a bearded older man with curling ram's horns, perhaps a
merging of ŽEl and Ba`al. As Ba`al Qarnaim/ Karnayin, Master of the Horns or the
Two-Horned Ba`al, He is a ram-horned god of twilight and the setting sun.
Some scholars related Ba`al to the Egyptian Osiris, considering both as dying-resurrecting
gods. While Osiris has an effect on this world with the annual fertilizing floods of the
Nile, He is never quite resurrected, rather going to the Netherworld where He reigns. More
importantly, while Osiris was known to the Canaanites - the head of Osiris after His
dismemberment was said to have floated to the Phoenician city of Byblos - there is no
evidence that the Egyptians or Canaanite-Phoenicians ever equated the two.
Another Egyptian god scholars sometimes associate with Ba`al is Ra/ Re, solar god,
creator, and sovereign lord of the sky; as Ra-Horakte He is chief god of the Ennead, the
nine most high deities. Reborn each dawn in the East, He dies at dusk after sailing
westward across the sky in His boat. However, Ba`al was NEVER a solar god, even though
faulty attributions of the Victorian and Edwardian eras have assigned Him this
association, perpetuated by some Neopagans. Some of the confusion is attributable to a
late Hellenistic syncretic deity worshipped as Heliogabalus, a blending of Ba`al with the
Greek sun god Helios and some Persian deities.
In fact, the deity with whom the Egyptians themselves particularly identified Ba`al was
Seth/ Set, whose position varied during Egypt1s long history. Most of the time He was not
evil personified, but a turbulent desert storm god, and there were pharaohs who bore His
name. The Greeks on the other hand, called Ba`al Zeus Demarous kai Adodos, while ŽEl was
equated instead with Kronos.
The name Ba`al is cognate with Bel, a Babylon and Assyrian deity. The Sumerian god Enlil
became incorporated with Bel, which eventually became a title of Marduk, defeater of
Tiamat whose name is possibly cognate with Yam, the Sea Serpent who Ba`al defeats.
Early in Canaanite studies, some scholars believed that ŽEl and Ba`al were in conflict
for control of the pantheon. A careful reading of the myth shows that this is not
true, which is current scholarly thought. There is conflict, as Ba`al must vanquish those
in competition with Him for the important executive position. But ŽEl remains throughout
the ultimate authority, whom Ba`al must petition for permission to build His palace. ŽEl
has dominion over all Creation, while Ba`al controls the fertility of the Earthly realm.
Yea, also Ba`al will make fertile with His rain,
with water He will indeed make fertile harrowed land;
and He will put His voice in the clouds,
He will flash His lightning to the earth.
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Author:
Originally by Taliesin einion Vawr, Revised by Celtic Church of Dynion Mwyn, Inc. Copyright © 1977, 1992, 2003 by Celtic Church of Dynion Mwyn, Inc. All rights reserved. Revised: 26 Jun 2008 14:32:58 -0400 |
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