Hadad

The King of the Canaanite Gods

## Names and Epithets

### Aliases

Baal, Ba'al, Ba'lu, Baal Hadad, Adad, Ba'al-zəbûl, Haddad Rammanu, Haddad, Pidar, Rapiu, Aliyan Baal, Rkb ‘rpt, Baal Shamen, Baal-Zephon, Iškur, Jupiter Dolichenus, Baal Zebul, Bael

### Titles

Divine King of the Canaanites, the Thunderer, Lord Prince, the Victorious, He Who Rides on the Clouds, Lord of the Heavens, Chief Canaanite Thunder God

## Profile

### Personify

Fertility, Rain, Life, Weather, Hurricanes, Storms, Thunder, Agriculture

## Relationships

### Siblings

Yam, Mot, Anat, Attar, Shahar, Shalim, Shapash, Lotan, Zebul

### Other Relationships

Danel & Aqhat (Worshipers), Mot (Rival), Lotan & Yam (Enemies), Jezebel (Prophetess), Yahweh (Enemy), Elijah (Enemy)

## Other

### Equivalents

Zeus, Jupiter, Teshub, Taranis, Adad, Tinia, Marduk, Adad, Amun, Thor, Perun, Perkunas, Ukko, Indra, Susanoo, Taru, Tezcatlipoca, Bael, Beelzebub, Rimmon

### Status

Alive

**Baal Hadad**, simply known as **Hadad** or **Baal**, is the Canaanite God of rain, fertility, agriculture and thunder who is also one of the King of the Gods in the Canaanite Pantheon.

## Overview

Baal Hadad is the major god worshiped by the people of Canaan, he who was to replace El as the King of the gods, even Hadad make famous by defeat his brother Yam the god of seas. He was worshipped in many ancient Middle Eastern communities, especially among the Canaanites, who apparently considered him a fertility deity and one of the most important gods in their respective local pantheons. Fertility was envisaged in terms of seven-year cycles.

Thanks to his huge reign of influence, Hadad was designated as the universal god of fertility, and in that capacity his title was Prince, Lord of the Earth. He was also called the Lord of Rain and Dew, the two forms of moisture that were indispensable for fertile soil in Canaan. But Hadad was not exclusively a fertility god. He was also king of the gods, and, to achieve that position, he was portrayed as seizing the divine kingship from Yam.

In his main myth of Canaan, the so-called Baal Cycle, Hadad was locked in mortal combat with Mot, the god and personification of death and sterility. If Hadad triumphed, a seven-year cycle of fertility would ensue; but, if he were vanquished by Mot, seven years of drought and famine would ensue with humans suffering as their crops would wither away. While the myths present a decisive conclusion to the conflict, some scholars assume it was believed to repeat in cycles.

Hadad has been connected to the great king Bael and with Beelzebub the false god of gluttony.

## Appearance

Hadad appears as a bearded divine figure, frequently depicted clutching both a cudgel and lightning bolt, adorned with a horned headpiece.

## History

### Baal Cycle

The Baal Cycle is a cycle of stories containing *The Myth of Baʿal Aliyan* and *The Death of Baʿal* both of which detail the god's struggle against Mot. The stories are written in Ugaritic, a Northwest Semitic language, and written in a cuneiform consonantal alphabet.

The Baʿal Cycle series of stories are summarized thus:

* Yam wants to rule over the other gods and be the most powerful of all
* Baʿal Hadad opposes Yam and slays him
* Baʿal Hadad, with the help of Anath and Athirat, persuades El to allow him a palace
* Baʿal Hadad commissions Kothar-wa-Khasis to build him a palace.
* King of the gods and ruler of the world seeks to subjugate Mot
* Mot kills Baʿal Hadad
* Anat brutally kills Mot, grinds him up and scatters his ashes
* Baʿal Hadad returns to Mount Saphon
* Mot, having recovered from being ground up and scattered, challenges Baʿal Hadad
* Baʿal Hadad refuses; Mot submits
* Baʿal Hadad rules again

## Myths and Legends

Ugaritic texts tell of other fertility aspects of Baal, such as his relations with Anat, his consort and sister, and also his siring a divine bull calf from a heifer. All this was part of his fertility role, which, when fulfilled, meant an abundance of crops and fertility for animals and mankind. Hadad was equated with the Greek god Zeus; the Roman god Jupiter, as Jupiter Dolichenus; the Norse God Thor; the Indo-European Nasite Hittite storm-god Teshub; the Egyptian god Amun.

He was at least in part derived from the Sumerian god Iškur, but their character differed substantially; while Iškur represented the destructive power of storms, the western Semitic Baal was the master of life-giving rains vital for farmers.

In Syria, hail was seen as a phenomenon closely related to him. He was also the king of the gods, and, to achieve that position, he was portrayed as seizing the divine kingship from Yam, the sea god, described as a tyrannical ruler. Baal was probably also regarded as the source of royal authority for human kings, and myths and prayers depict him as an ally and protector of humans. In Ugaritic and Hebrew, Baal’s epithet as the storm god was He Who Rides on the Clouds. In the Baal Cycle he's frequently called "Aliyan Baal" or "Baal, the victorious". In Phoenician he was called Baal Shamen, Lord of the Heavens.

Like many deities of the ancient Near East, Hadad was always represented in a horned headdress. In art, he's often shown holding a club and thunderbolt or two clubs. While Mesopotamian depictions of the storm god and the famous Baal stele depict him as a typical bearded Near Eastern god, many Canaanite depictions are instead more similar to Egyptian warriror gods and beardless. Baal was also frequently associated with bulls. The bull was a widespread symbol of divinity in ancient Mespopotamia and areas infuenced by it. Other storm gods from cultures closely related to that of ancient Canaan, like Hurrian Teshub and Hittite Tarhunna, were depicted very similarly to Baal in art, and their myths shared many similarities as well. The Egyptian god Set in his generally positive aspect as a god of foreigners was also associated with Baal, taking his role in the Egyptian adaptation of the Yam narrative.

Baal is typically linked with the goddesses Ashtart, often referred to as "the Face of Baal," which suggests a particularly intimate connection between these two deities. Ashtart is a western Semitic counterpart to Ishtar, and Anat who is another goddess often interpreted as one of Baal's consorts. Anat is also called Baal's sister, though it's unclear if they share the exact same parents, as in Ugaritic texts Baal calls two separate gods, El (the husband of Asherah) and Dagan, his fathers. Whether the two fathers were one and the same or if one of these was simply a courtesy title indicating superior status is a matter of scholarly debate, though cultic rather than mythical texts regard Dagan as separate from El.

The use of the name Baal, or Ba'al, as a substitute for Hadad in ancient Canaanite texts and common usage can be attributed to two main factors. Firstly, akin to the practice in Judaism where only priests were allowed to utter the divine name, in Canaanite culture, it was restricted to priests, leading common people to refer to Hadad as Baal for accessibility. Secondly, over time, the title Baal became so integral to Hadad's cult and identity that it effectively became his primary name.

## Quotes

* *"Our brotherhood dies here. We are adversaries, each upholding our own reason and contending for creation. As fate would have it, we are both beyond shedding tears. We need not hesitate to fight each other. So, let us now decide who is truly superior, brother. Challenge me with all your might!"* - Hadad to Mot.

* *"Bearing a name that means "Lord" or "owner," he was revered as a god of fertility in addition to being known as the god of Canaan and both brother and consort to the goddess Anat. Many demons, such as Bael, Beelzebub, Belphegor and Berith are believed to be derivations of Baal. There were even instances of him being worshiped in the very same temples as Yahweh in times long since passed."* - Hadad, Divine Compendium.

## Gallery

*Sage Baal with a doll in his hands**Hadad in a Canaanite relief*
## Trivia

* The bull was the symbolic animal of Hadad, as of the Hittite deity Teshub, who was identical with him.
* Many of the most famous biblical references to Baal, for example the tale of Jezebel, are related to the traditions of the cities of Sidon and Tyre, where the title of Baal was applied to deities other than Hadad.
* He was one of the gods to be demonized into the Demon King Bael.

## Image Sources

* (Baal Fanart.jpg) Deity Race - Baal by MainlyJustAHobo
* (Florencia-angellia-thanos-baal.jpg) Baal - Ultra Shin Megami Tensei Log by Florencia Angellia
* (Baal2.jpg) Baal from Shin Megami Tensei II
* (Baal Dx2 Art.png) Baal from Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
* (Baal hadad by greenbeedrill888 dg0qpre.jpg) Baal Hadad by greenbeedrill888
* (Baal-marcin-and-dawid-witukiewicz.jpg) Ball by Dawid Witukiewicz
* (Sage-baal-and-sezan.png) Sage Baal and Sezan from Epic Seven
* (Baal thunderbolt Louvre AO15775.jpg) Stele of Baal with Thunderbolt found at the acropolis in Ras Shamra from Louvre Museum