Editing Baal (section)

==Semitic religion==
{{see also|Religions of the ancient Near East|Ancient Semitic religion|Canaanite religion|Punic religion}}

===Generic===
{{see also-text|[[Bel (mythology)|Bel]]|[[Zeus Belos]]|[[Belus (disambiguation)|other figures named Belus]]}}
Like [[EN (cuneiform)|En]] in [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]], the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''bēlu'' and [[Northwest Semitic languages|Northwest Semitic]] ''baʿal'' (as well as its feminine form ''baʿalah'') was used as a title of various deities in the [[Ancient Mesopotamian religion|Mesopotamian]] and [[Ancient Semitic religion|Semitic pantheons]]. Only a [[definitive article]], [[genitive]] or [[epithet]], or context could establish which particular god was meant.{{sfnp|Halpern|2009|p=64}}

===Hadad===
{{Main|Hadad}}

Baʿal was also used as a proper name by the third millennium&nbsp;BC, when he appears in a list of deities at [[Abu Salabikh]].{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=132}} Most modern scholarship asserts that this Baʿal—usually distinguished as "The Lord" ({{lang|he|[[wikt:ה־|ה]]{{linktext|בעל}}}}, ''Ha-Baʿal'')—was identical with the [[storm god|storm]] and [[fertility god]] Hadad;{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=132}}{{sfnp|Day|2000|p=68}}{{sfnp|Pope|2007}} it also appears in the form ''Baʿal Haddu''.{{sfnp|''DULAT''|2015|loc="[https://books.google.com/books?id=bh6oBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA203 bʕl (II)]"}}{{sfnp|Ayali-Darshan|2013|p=652}} 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 (god)|Bel]]" was used for [[Marduk]] among the Babylonians and "[[Adonai]]" for [[Tetragrammaton|Yahweh]] among the Israelites. A minority propose that Baʿal was a native [[Canaanite religion|Canaanite]] deity whose cult was identified with or absorbed aspects of [[Adad]]'s.{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=132}} Regardless of their original relationship, by the 1st millennium&nbsp;BCE, the two were distinct: Hadad was worshiped by the [[Aramaeans]] and Baʿal by the [[Phoenicians]] and other [[Canaanites]].{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=132}}

{{anchor|Baal|Ba'al}}

===Baʿal===
{{See also|Baal Cycle}}
[[File:Baal thunderbolt Louvre AO15775.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Baal with Thunderbolt]] from Ugarit. [[Musée du Louvre]].]]
[[File:Baal, God of Fertility and Storms, Megiddo, Strata IX-VII, Late Bronze Age, 1550-1200 BC, bronze - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07738.JPG|thumb|Solid cast bronze of a votive figurine representing the god Baal discovered at [[Tel Megiddo]], dating to the mid-2nd millennium BC.]]
Baʿal is well-attested in surviving inscriptions and was popular in [[theophoric name]]s throughout the [[Levant]]{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=133}} but he is usually mentioned along with other gods, "his own field of action being seldom defined".{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=134}} Nonetheless, Ugaritic records show him as a [[weather god]], with particular power over [[lightning god|lightning]], [[wind god|wind]], [[rain god|rain]], and [[fertility god|fertility]].{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=134}}{{efn|In surviving accounts, Baʿal's power over fertility extends only over vegetation. Older scholarship claimed Baʿal controlled human fertility as well but did so on the basis of misinterpretation or of inscriptions now regarded as dubious.{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|pp=134–135}} Similarly, 19th-century scholarship treating Baal as a [[anthropomorphism|personification]] of the [[sun]] seems to have been badly taken. The [[astrotheology]] of Near Eastern deities was an [[Iron Age]] development long postdating the [[origin of religion]] and, following its development, [[Bel (god)|Bel]] and Baʿal were associated with the planet [[Jupiter (planet)|Jupiter]].{{sfnp|Smith & al.|1899}} The sun was worshipped in Canaan as either the goddess [[Shapash]] or the god [[Shamash]].}} 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.{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=134}} Thus, the worship of Baʿal in [[Canaan]]—where he eventually supplanted [[El (deity)|El]] as the leader of the gods and patron of kingship—was connected to the region's dependence on rainfall for its agriculture, unlike [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Ancient Mesopotamia|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.{{sfnp|Pope|2007}} He was also called upon during battle, showing that he was thought to intervene actively in the world of man,{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=134}} unlike the more aloof El. The Lebanese city of [[Baalbeck]] was named after Baal.<ref>{{citation |last=Batuman |first=Elif |contribution=The Myth of the Megalith |contribution-url=http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/baalbek-myth-megalith |title=The New Yorker |date=18 December 2014 |title-link=The New Yorker }}</ref> Alternatively, Ba' al is a divine co-regent with El, where El was the executive while Ba' al was the sustainer of the cosmos.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Theodore J. |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/37440/chapter/331574551?login=true#331574754 |title=The Origin and Character of God: Ancient Israelite Religion through the Lens of Divinity |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0190072544 |pages=73–118}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfFeCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA216|title=The Splintered Divine: A Study of Istar, Baal, and Yahweh Divine Names and Divine Multiplicity in the Ancient Near East|page= 216|year= 2015|isbn=9781614512363|last1=Allen|first1=Spencer L|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG }}</ref> Baʿal was usually said to be the son of [[Dagan (god)|Dagan]], but appears as one of the sons of El in [[Ugarit]]ic sources.{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=133}}{{sfnp|''DULAT''|2015|loc="[https://books.google.com/books?id=bh6oBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA203 bʕl (II)]"}}{{efn|Herrmann argues against seeing these separate lineages literally, instead proposing that they describe Baʿal's roles. As a god, he is understood as a child of El, "father of gods", while his fertility aspects connect him to the [[grain god]] Dagan.{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=133}}}} Both Baʿal and El were [[sacred bull|associated with the bull]] in Ugaritic texts, as they symbolized both strength and fertility.{{sfnp|Miller|2000|p=32}} He held special enmity against snakes, both on their own and as representatives of [[Yammu]] (<small>{{abbr|lit.|literally}}</small>&nbsp;"Sea"), the Canaanite [[List of water deities|sea god and river god]].{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=135}} He fought the [[Tannin (monster)|Tannin]] (''Tunnanu''), the "Twisted Serpent" (''Bṯn ʿqltn''), "[[Lotan]] the Fugitive Serpent" (''Ltn Bṯn Brḥ'', the biblical [[Leviathan]]),{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=135}} and the "Mighty One [[seven-headed serpent|with Seven Heads]]" (''Šlyṭ D.šbʿt Rašm'').{{sfnp|Uehlinger|1999|p=512}}{{efn|The account is [[lacuna (MS)|patchy]] and obscure here. Some scholars take some or all of the terms to refer to [[Litan]], and in other passages, [[ʿAnat]] takes credit for destroying the monsters on Baʿal's behalf. Herrmann takes "Šalyaṭu" as a proper name{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=135}} rather than translating it as the "powerful one" or "tyrant".{{sfnp|''DULAT''|2015|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bh6oBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA810 "šlyṭ"]}}}} Baʿal's conflict with Yammu is now generally regarded as the prototype of the vision recorded in the [[Daniel 7|7th chapter]] of the [[Bible|biblical]] [[Book of Daniel]].{{sfnp|Collins|1984|p=77}} As vanquisher of the sea, the Canaanites and Phoenicians regarded Baʿal as the [[patron deity|patron]] of [[sailors]] and sea-going merchants.{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=135}} As vanquisher of [[Mot (god)|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.{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=135}}

From Canaan, worship of Baʿal spread to Egypt by the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] and throughout the [[Mediterranean basin|Mediterranean]] following the waves of [[Phoenician colonization]] in the early 1st millennium&nbsp;BCE.{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=133}} He was described with diverse epithets, and before Ugarit was rediscovered, these were supposed to refer to distinct local gods. However, as explained by [[John Day (Old Testament scholar)|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]]".{{sfnp|Day|2000|p=68}} In those inscriptions, he is frequently described as "Victorious Baʿal" (''Aliyn'' or ''Ảlỉyn Baʿal''),{{sfnp|''DULAT''|2015|loc="[https://books.google.com/books?id=bh6oBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA203 bʕl (II)]"}}{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=132}} "Mightiest one" (''Aliy'' or ''ʾAly''){{sfnp|''DULAT''|2015|loc="[https://books.google.com/books?id=bh6oBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA203 bʕl (II)]"}}{{efn|This name appears twice in the [[Legend of Keret]] discovered at [[Ugarit]]. Before this discovery, [[Henrik Samuel Nyberg|Nyberg]] had restored it to the Hebrew texts of [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]],<ref>{{bibleverse|Deut.|33:12|HE}}.</ref> [[Books of Samuel|1&nbsp;& 2&nbsp;Samuel]],<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Sam.|2:10|HE}}.</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|2 Sam.|23:1|HE}}.</ref> [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]],<ref>{{bibleverse|Isa.|59:18|HE}} & {{Bibleverse-nb||Isa|63:7|HE}}.</ref> and [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Hos.|7:16|HE}}.</ref> Following its verification, additional instances have been claimed in the [[Psalms]] and in [[Book of Job|Job]].{{sfnp|Pope|2007}}}} 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'').{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|pp=132–133}} As [[Baʿal Zaphon]] (''Baʿal Ṣapunu''), he was particularly associated with his palace atop [[Jebel Aqra]] (the ancient Mount Ṣapānu and classical Mons Casius).{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|pp=132–133}} He is also mentioned as "Winged Baʿal" (''Bʿl Knp'') and "Baʿal of the Arrows" (''Bʿl Ḥẓ'').{{sfnp|''DULAT''|2015|loc="[https://books.google.com/books?id=bh6oBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA203 bʕl (II)]"}} [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] and [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] inscriptions describe  "Baʿal of the [[Mace (bludgeon)|Mace]]" (''Bʿl Krntryš''), "Baʿal of the Lebanon" (''Bʿl Lbnn''), "Baʿal of Sidon" (''Bʿl Ṣdn''), ''Bʿl Ṣmd'', "[[Baʿal of the Heavens]]" (''Baʿal Shamem'' or ''Shamayin''),<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baal-ancient-deity|title=Baal {{!}} ancient deity|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-08-04|language=en}}</ref> Baʿal ʾAddir (''Bʿl ʾdr''), [[Baʿal Hammon]] (''Baʿal Ḥamon''), ''Bʿl Mgnm''.{{sfnp|Herrmann|1999a|p=133}}

{{anchor|Baal Hammon|Ba'al Hammon}}

===Baʿal Hammon===
{{main|Baal Hammon|l1=Baʿal Hammon}}
[[Baal Hammon|Baʿal Hammon]] was worshipped in the [[Ancient Tyre|Tyrian]] [[Phoenician colonization|colony]] of [[Carthage]] as their [[King of the Gods|supreme god]]. It is believed that this position developed in the 5th century&nbsp;BCE following the severing of its ties to [[Ancient Tyre|Tyre]] following the 480&nbsp;BCE [[Battle of Himera (480 BC)|Battle of Himera]].{{sfnp|Moscati|2001|p=132}} Like Hadad, Baʿal Hammon was a [[fertility god]].{{sfnp|Lancel|1995|p=197}} Inscriptions about [[Punic religion|Punic deities]] tend to be rather uninformative, though, and he has been variously identified as a [[moon god]]{{citation needed|date=August 2015}} and as [[Dagan (god)|Dagan]], the [[grain god]].{{sfnp|Lipiński|1992}} Rather than the bull, Baʿal Hammon was associated with the [[Sheep|ram]] and depicted with his horns. The archaeological record seems to bear out accusations in Roman sources that the Carthaginians [[Tophet#Carthage and western Mediterranean|burned their children as human sacrifices]] to him.{{sfnp|Xella|Quinn|Melchiorri|Van Domellen|2013}} 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 the bay from Carthage. His consort was the goddess [[Tanit]].{{sfnp|Lancel|1995|p=195}}

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]].{{sfnp|Walbank|1979|p=47}} [[Ernest Renan|Renan]] and Gibson linked it to Hammon (modern Umm el-‘Amed between [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] in [[Lebanon]] and [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] in [[Israel]]){{sfnp|Gibson|1982|p=39 & 118}} and [[Frank Moore Cross|Cross]] and [[Edward Lipiński (orientalist)|Lipiński]] to Haman or Khamōn, the classical [[Mount Amanus]] and modern Nur Mountains, which separate northern [[Syria]] from southeastern [[Cilicia]].{{sfnp|Cross|1973|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bJqwWRDOMgEC&pg=PA26 26–28]}}{{sfnp|Lipiński|1994|p=207}}