Baal

In Ancient script

* 𐎁𐎓𐎍 (Ugaritic)
* 𐤁𐤏𐤋 (Phoenician)
* בַּעַל (Hebrew)
* 𒂗 (Akkadian)
* ባል (Aramaic)

**Ba'al** was an important god among the West Semitic people, notably the Canaanites. He was seen as the god of fertility, weather, rain, wind, lightning, seasons, war, and sailors.

## Overview

### Family

At some point Ba'al replaced the prominent god El within the West Semitic and Canaanite pantheons, and he was notably worshipped in the ancient city of Ugarit around 1400 BCE.

Ba'al's had to potential fathers: he was often called the son of Dagon, the god grain, while sometimes he was also seen as one the many sons of El. His common consorts were either Anat, his sister and goddess of war, the sky and the hunt or Ashtoreth, the goddess of war and sexuality.

Ba'al is also noted to having three daughters (or brides) called Pidray, Tallay and Arsay, who were considered as goddesses of dew and rain, connecting them closer to Ba'al, who was also a weather god.

### Ba'al Cycle

In the Ba'al Cycle of the city of the Baal ascends as the head of the pantheon, but has to Yam, the chaotic god of the sea, in order to do so.

#### Struggle with Yamm

The story begins when Yamm, the god of the sea and rivers, is promised kingship of the gods by his father El, the current king of the gods, and Ba'al being the only god who does to agree to be subjugated (and humiliated) by the sea-god. Ba'al with the help of his sister-wife Anat, goddess of war, and Kothar-wa-Khasis, the crafts god who gives crafts the magical weapons (Yagrush and Ayamur), is able to defeat Yamm.

#### Building the Palace

After the conflict Ba'al and Anat ascend to Mount Hazzi (renamed Mount Zaphon), where they, with the help of Kothar-wa-Khasis, built the palace for the new king of the gods. Ba'al becomes prideful and after having vanquished the god of the sea, thinks he can also defeated Mot, the god of death and the underworld.

#### Facing death

Mot challenges Ba'alto come to the underworld, and although the storm god originally refuses, as king and champion of the gods, he must go down to face him. Ba'al takes the weather (rain, wind, clouds) with him and faces Mot, seemingly dying in the process. The other gods, especially El and Anat, mourn the loss, and are not able to find a proper replacement to head the pantheon.

El later has a vision, and realises that Ba'al is still alive, but in the clutches of Mot in the underworld. He tells this to Anat, who flies into a rage and travels to the land of the dead to rescue Ba'al. She brutally kills Mot and revives Ba'al, allowing him to return to the world of the living.

Some speculate that the myth might have a fertility-connection, with Ba'al traveling to the underworld, being trapped and eventually returning being an example of the ancient Levantine crop-cycle.

## History

### Depiction

Ba'al is usually depicted as a human-male, armed with his two primary weapons are two ṣmd-weapons (smiting weapons such as clubs or hammers) called Yagrush and Ayamur (which translate as ‘driver’ and ‘chaser’) which were created by Kothar-wa-Khasis in order to combat Yamm. Sometimes he is also depicted with just one ṣmd and a lighting bolt, which make him similar to depiction of other Near Eastern storm-gods, such as the Anatolian Tarhunt or the Syrian Adad.

## Baal in other religions

### Baal in the Bible

The worship of Ba'al among the Israelites (along all other pagan deities) is condemned within the Old Testament of the Bible.

The most notable case is likely within the Book of Kings, where the Phoenician princess Jezebel married Ahab, the king of Israel and introduced the worship of Ba'al into the land. Yahweh's prophet Elijah notably confronted 450 prophets of Ba'al, claiming whosoever god answers his worshippers to perform a miracle (lighting a fire on a sacrificed bull) should be worshipped in Israel. The competition ended in Elijah's victory and with the killing of the prophets of Baal.

He would later be associated with the figure of Satan and lead to the figure of Beelzebub, a prince of demons. A latter figure inspired by Ba'al is Bael, a king of Hell who is listed as the first demon of the 72 spirits of the Ars Goetia.

Despite being seen as a false idol or demon, Ba'al's imagery is often used in the Psalms of the Old Testament of the Bible and incorporated for their god YHWH. One notable example is Psalm 104 which uses his title "Rider on the Cloud".

Imagery and titles of Ba'al (and other storm gods) was used in the Old Testament when describing figures such as YHWH and the Son of Man in the Book of Daniel, who would later be identified with Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Examples of this is the battle between YHWH and Leviathan conflict appears in the Books of Job and Isaiah.

### Comparison in other Mythologies

Ba'al's ascendency and domination of chaos is similar to other Mediterranean and Ancient Near Eastern mythologies and religions.

Ba'al's combat with Yamm is likely based on earlier Mesopotamian traditions, such as Ninurta's struggle against the Anzû-bird or Marduk's struggle combat against Tiamat. He was also sometimes syncretised with the Syrian god Hadad and Hurrian god Teššub, forming Teššub-Baal.

The worship of Ba'al arrived in Egypt mainly through the Hyksos, and he received worship from the locals. While Baal's story of resurrection made him somewhat similar to Osiris, the Egyptian god of the underworld and fertility, he was more closely associated with Seth, the god storms, deserts and chaos or Montu, a falcon-headed war god.

Within Greek mythology, Ba'al was sometimes compared to Zeus, also a thunder god and head of the pantheon, but his role as a god associated with vegetation and returning from the underworld to bring a new harvest has led to some connections with the Greek agricultural goddess Demeter, and he daughter Persephone, who returns from the realm of the dead every spring.

## Different Ba'al's

The word Ba'al was a common title for "master" or "lord", and could be applied to several different local deities deities in ancient West Semitic cities.

### Notable Baal's:

* **Baal-Addir**, patron god of the city of Byblos, associated with fertility and the underworld.
* **Baal-Biq'ah**, patron god of the city of Baalbek, associated with weather, sky and the sun, later syncretised with Zeus.
* **Baal-Hadad**, patron god of the city of Ugarit, associated with the Mesopotamian god of storm-god Adad. Usually seen as the standard "Baal", who battles Yam and Lotan.
* **Baal Hammon**, patron-god of Carthage and important deity among the Phoenicians. He was a god of fertility and children were sacrificed to him. The Greeks and Romans associated him with Cronus and Saturn.

## Pop Culture

* Ba'al appears as a major recurring character in the *Chronicles of the Nephlim*-book series by author Brian Godawa, where is conflated with the fallen angel Gadreel, who was previously the Mesopotamian storm-gods Ninurta and Marduk.
* Within the universe of the SCP-Foundation, Ba'al appears as SCP-3615-2.
* Ba'al appears as an antagonist in the American Horror Stories episode BA'AL.

## References

1. ↑ Herrmann, Wolfgang, *Baal* (p.132), in Van der Toorn, Karel, Bob Becking, and Pieter Willem van der Horst, eds. *Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible*. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999.
2. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard H. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
3. ↑ Botica, Aurelian. *Botica, Aurelian.* The Theophoric element Baal in Ancient Phoenician Inscriptions*. Perichoresis 10.1 (2012): 67-93.*
4. ↑ Wiggins, Steve A. *Pidray, Tallay and Arsay in the Baal cycle*. Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 29.2 (2003): 83-101.
5. ↑ Miller, Robert D. *Tracking the dragon across the ancient Near East*. (2014).
6. ↑  Satterfield, Bruce. *The Nature of the Struggle Between the Israelite and Canaanite Religion*
7. ↑ Mazzini, Giovanni. *Baal and Niqmaddu: A Suggestion to Ugaritic KTU 1.2 I, 36–38.* SEL 21 (2004): 65-9.
8. ↑  Miller, Robert D. *Tracking the Dragon across the Ancient Near East*
9. ↑  Satterfield, Bruce. *The Nature of the Struggle Between the Israelite and Canaanite Religion*
10. ↑  Satterfield, Bruce. *The Nature of the Struggle Between the Israelite and Canaanite Religion*
11. ↑  Satterfield, Bruce. *The Nature of the Struggle Between the Israelite and Canaanite Religion*
12. ↑  Satterfield, Bruce. *The Nature of the Struggle Between the Israelite and Canaanite Religion*
13. ↑ Noll, Kurt L. *Canaanite religion.* Religion Compass 1, no. 1 (2007): 61-92.
14. ↑ Töyräänvuori, Joanna. *Weapons of the Storm God in ancient Near Eastern and biblical traditions.* Studia Orientalia Electronica 112 (2012): 147-180
15. ↑ Pakkala, Juha. *Muinaisisraelilainen uskonto ja uskonnollinen vallankumous.* Israelin uskonto ennen juutalaisuutta (2010).
16. ↑ *1 Kings 18:20-40*
17. ↑ Bane, Theresa. *Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures.* McFarland, 2014.
18. ↑ Davidson, Gustav. *Dictionary of Angels.* Simon and Schuster, 1994.
19. ↑ Baskin, Wade. *Dictionary of Satanism.* Open Road Media, 2019.
20. ↑ Mathers, S.L.M., 2020. *The Lesser Key of Solomon (Vol. 1).* Library of Alexandria.
21. ↑ de Plancy, Jacques Collin. *Dictionnaire Infernal*
22. ↑ Jones, Jordan W. *Who maketh the clouds his chariot: The comparative method and the mythopoetical motif of cloud-riding in Psalm 104 and the Epic of Baal.* Liberty University, 2010.
23. ↑ MMetsäranta, Monica. *Leviatanin päät: metaforinen, myyttinen, narratiivinen ja kognitiivinen tarve merihirviölle psalmissa 74: 12–16.* (2020).
24. ↑ Annus, Amar. *Ninurta and the Son of Man.* na, 2001.
25. ↑ Day, John. G*od's Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea: Echoes of a Canaanite Myth in the Old Testament.* No. 35. CUP Archive, 1985.
26. ↑ Longman III, Tremper. *The Divine Warrior: The New Testament Use of an Old Testament Motif.* Westminster Theological Journal 44, no. 2 (1982): 290-307.
27. ↑ Woods, Fred E. *Who Controls the Water? Yahweh vs. Baal.* (2003).
28. ↑ Pierce, Zachary. *I Will Cause Hail to Rain in Egypt!: The Appropriation of Ba'al in Exod 9:13–35*. (2017)
29. ↑ Heiser, Michael. *The mythological provenance of Isa. XIV 12-15: a reconsideration of the ugaritic material.* Vetus testamentum 51, no. 3 (2001): 354-369.
30. ↑ Peters, Kurtis. *Jonah 1 and the Battle with the Sea: Myth and Irony.* Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 32, no. 2 (2018): 157-165.
31. ↑ Middleton, J. Richard. *Created in the image of a violent God? The ethical problem of the conquest of chaos in biblical creation texts.* Interpretation 58, no. 4 (2004): 341-355.
32. ↑ Gurevitch, Danielle. *Symbolism and Fantasy of the Biblical Leviathan: From Monster of the Abyss to Redeemer of the Prophets*
33. ↑ Wikander, Ola. *From Indo-European Dragon-Slaying to Isaiah 27.1: A Study in the Longue Durée.* Studies in Isaiah: History, Theology, and Reception 654 (2017): 116.
34. ↑ Averbeck, Richard E. *Ancient Near Eastern Mythography as It Relates to Historiography in the Hebrew Bible: Genesis 3 and the Cosmic Battle.* The Future of Biblical Archaeology: Reassessing Methodologies and Assumptions (2004): 328-56.
35. ↑ Why Leviathan isn't a Dinosaur by Ben Stanhope
36. ↑ Annus, Amar. *The God Ninurta in the Mythology and Royal Ideology of Ancient Mesopotamia*. (2002).
37. ↑ Dempsey, Brendan Graham. *The Combat Myth According to Mark: From Ancient Near Eastern Genre to Apocalyptic Gospel*
38. ↑ Fleming, Daniel Ε. *Baal and Dagan in Ancient Syria.* Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie83, no. 1 (1993): 88-98.
39. ↑ Petrosyan, A. Y. *The Cities of Kumme, Kummanna and Their God Teššub/Teišeba.* Archaeology and Language: Indo-European Studies Presented to James P. Mallory, Washington DC (2012): 141-156.
40. ↑ Tugendhaft, Aaron. *Unsettling sovereignty: politics and Poetics in the Baal Cycle.* Journal of American Oriental Society 132, no. 3 (2012): 367-384.
41. ↑ Wilkinson, Richard H. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt*
42. ↑ Oliveira, Alexandra Diez de. *Zeus Kasios or the Interpretatio Graeca of Baal Saphon in Ptolemaic Egypt.* (2013)
43. ↑ Oliveira, Alexandra Diez de. *Zeus Kasios or the Interpretatio Graeca of Baal Saphon in Ptolemaic Egypt.* (2013)
44. ↑ López‐Ruiz, Carolina. *Greek and Canaanite mythologies: Zeus, Baal, and their rivals.* Religion compass 8, no. 1 (2014): 1-10.
45. ↑ Bang, Ki-Min. *A Missing Key to Understanding Psalm 46: Revisiting the Chaoskampf.* Conversations with the Biblical World 37 (2017): 68-89.
46. ↑ Zolotnikova, O. *Mythologies in contact: Syro-Phoenician traits in Homeric Zeus.* The Scientific Heritage 41-5 (41) (2019): 16-24.
47. ↑ Murphy, Robert Marshall. *Basics of Ancient Ugaritic*. (2013).
48. ↑ Tsumura, David Toshio. *The Chaoskampf Myth in the Biblical Tradition.* Journal of the American Oriental Society 140, no. 4 (2020): 963-970.
49. ↑ Lurker, Manfred. *The Routledge Dictionary Of Gods Goddesses Devils And Demons*
50. ↑ Lurker, Manfred. *The Routledge Dictionary Of Gods Goddesses Devils And Demons*
51. ↑ Lurker, Manfred. *The Routledge Dictionary Of Gods Goddesses Devils And Demons*
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