Ba'al Hammon

Baʿal of Carthage


The worship of Baʿal Hammon flourished in the Phoenician colony of Carthage. Baʿal Hammon was the supreme god of the Carthaginians, and is believed that this supremacy dates back to the 5th century BC, apparently after a breaking off of relationships between Carthage and Tyre at the time of the Punic defeat in Himera.[4] He is generally identified by modern scholars either with the Northwest Semitic god El or with Dagon,[5] and generally identified by the Greeks, by interpretatio Graeca with Greek Cronus and similarly by the Romans with Saturn.


The meaning of Hammon or Hamon is unclear. In the 19th century when Ernest Renan excavated the ruins of Hammon (Ḥammon), the modern Umm al-‘Awamid between Tyre and Acre, he found two Phoenician inscriptions dedicated to El-Hammon. Since El was normally identified with Cronus and Ba‘al Hammon was also identified with Cronus, it seemed possible they could be equated. More often a connection with Hebrew/Phoenician ḥammān 'brazier' has been proposed, in the sense of "Baal (lord) of the brazier". He has been therefore identified with a solar deity.[6] Frank Moore Cross argued for a connection to Khamōn, the Ugaritic and Akkadian name for Mount Amanus, the great mountain separating Syria from Cilicia based on the occurrence of an Ugaritic description of El as the one of the Mountain Haman.


Classical sources relate how the Carthaginians burned their children as offerings to Baʿal Hammon. See Moloch for a discussion of these traditions and conflicting thoughts on the matter. From the attributes of his Roman form, African Saturn, it is possible to conclude that Hammon was a fertility god.[7]
Scholars tend to see Baʿal Hammon as more or less identical with the god El, who was also generally identified with Cronus and Saturn. However, Yigael Yadin thought him to be a moon god. Edward Lipinski identifies him with the god Dagon in his Dictionnaire de la civilisation phenicienne et punique (1992: ISBN 2-503-50033-1). Inscriptions about Punic deities tend to be rather uninformative.


In Carthage and North Africa Baʿal Hammon was especially associated with the ram and was worshiped also as Baʿal Qarnaim ("Lord of Two Horns") in an open-air sanctuary at Jebel Bu Kornein ("the two-horned hill") across the bay from Carthage.


Baʿal Hammon's female cult partner was Tanit.[8] He was probably not ever identified with Baʿal Melqart, although one finds this equation in older scholarship.


Ba`alat Gebal ("Lady of Byblos") appears to have been generally identified with ‘Ashtart, although Sanchuniathon distinguishes the two.

From: Wiki

Ba'al-Hamon ("Ruler of a Crowd or Multitude") was the chief god of Carthage. He was a deity of sky and vegetation, depicted as a bearded older man with curling ram's horns.[1] Baʿal Hammon's female cult partner was Tanit.[2]


Cult and attributes


The worship of Baʿal Hammon flourished in the Phoenician colony of Carthage. His supremacy among the Carthaginian gods is believed to date to the 5th century BC, after relations between Carthage and Tyre were broken off at the time of the Punic defeat in Himera.[3] Modern scholars identify him variously with the Northwest Semitic god El or with Dagon.[4]


In Carthage and North Africa Baʿal Hammon was especially associated with the ram and was worshiped also as Baʿal Qarnaim ("Lord of Two Horns") in an open-air sanctuary at Jebel Bu Kornein ("the two-horned hill") across the bay from Carthage.[citation needed] He was probably never identified with Baʿal Melqart, although one finds this equation in older scholarship.[citation needed]


Ancient Greek writers identified him with the Titan Cronus. In ancient Rome, he was identified with Saturn, and the cultural exchange between Rome and Carthage as a result of the Second Punic War may have influenced the development of the Roman religious festival Saturnalia.[5]


Greco-Roman sources report that the Carthaginians burned their children as offerings to Baʿal Hammon. (See Moloch for a discussion of these traditions and conflicting thoughts on the matter.) Attributes of his Romanized form as an African Saturn indicate that Hammon was a fertility god.[6]

Name and functions


The meaning of Hammon or Hamon is unclear. In the 19th century when Ernest Renan excavated the ruins of Hammon (Ḥammon), the modern Umm al-‘Awamid between Tyre and Acre, he found two Phoenician inscriptions dedicated to El-Hammon. Since El was normally identified with Cronus and Ba‘al Hammon was also identified with Cronus, it seemed possible they could be equated. More often a connection with Hebrew/Phoenician ḥammān 'brazier' has been proposed, in the sense of "Baal (lord) of the brazier". He has been therefore identified with a solar deity.[7] Yigael Yadin thought him to be a moon god. Edward Lipinski identifies him with the god Dagon.[8]


Frank Moore Cross argued for a connection to Khamōn, the Ugaritic and Akkadian name for Mount Amanus, the great mountain separating Syria from Cilicia based on the occurrence of an Ugaritic description of El as the one of the Mountain Haman.

From: Another Wiki

The chief deity of Phoenician Carthage and a fertility god. His cult spread to Malta, Sardinia and Sicily, and sacrificing children played an important role in this cult. His names means something like "lord of the incense-altars". The Greek equated him with their Cronus and the Romans with Saturn. His wife is Tanit.

From: Here

Also see:
Phonecia.org - Baal-Hammon, God of Fertility and Renewer of all Energies in the Phoenician colonies of the Western Mediterranean
Baal Hammon
Ba`al Hammon, Ba`al Khamon

Tanit

Her symbol:

Tanit, also spelled TINITH, TINNIT, or TINT, chief goddess of Carthage, equivalent of Astarte. Although she seems to have had some connection with the heavens, she was also a mother goddess, and fertility symbols often accompany representations of her. She was probably the consort of Baal Hammon (or Amon), the chief god of Carthage, and was often given the attribute "face of Baal." Although Tanit did not appear at Carthage before the 5th century BC, she soon eclipsed the more established cult of Baal Hammon and, in the Carthaginian area at least, was frequently listed before him on the monuments. In the worship of Tanit and Baal Hammon, children, probably firstborn, were sacrificed. Ample evidence of the practice has been found west of Carthage in the precinct of Tanit, where a tofet (a sanctuary for the sacrifice of children) was discovered. Tanit was also worshiped on Malta, Sardinia, and in Spain.
For the rest, see HERE

 

Tanit was worshiped in Punic contexts in the Western Mediterranean, from Malta to Gades into Hellenistic times. From the fifth century BCE onwards Tanit is associated with that of Ba`al Hammon. She is given the epithet pene baal ("face of Baal") and the title rabat, the female form of rab (chief).[3] In North Africa, where the inscriptions and material remains are more plentiful, she was, as well as a consort of Baal Hammon, a heavenly goddess of war, a virginal (not married) mother goddess and nurse, and, less specifically, a symbol of fertility, as are most female forms. Several of the major Greek goddesses were identified with Tanit by the syncretic interpretatio graeca, which recognized as Greek deities in foreign guise the gods of most of the surrounding non-Hellene cultures.

Her shrine excavated at Sarepta in southern Phoenicia revealed an inscription that identified her for the first time in her homeland and related her securely to the Phoenician goddess Astarte (Ishtar).[4] One site where Tanit is uncovered is at Kerkouane, in the Cap Bon peninsula in Tunisia.

The origins of Tanit are to be found in the pantheon of Ugarit, especially in the Ugaritic goddess Anat (Hvidberg-Hansen 1982), a consumer of blood and flesh. There is significant, albeit disputed, evidence, both archaeological and within ancient written sources, pointing towards child sacrifice forming part of the worship of Tanit and Baal Hammon.[5]

Tanit is also a goddess among the ancient Berber people.

Her symbol, found on many ancient stone carvings, appears as a trapezoid/trapezium closed by a horizontal line at the top and surmounted in the middle by a circle: the horizontal arm is often terminated either by two short upright lines at right angles to it or by hooks. Later, the trapezoid/trapezium is frequently replaced by an isosceles triangle. The symbol is interpreted by Hvidberg-Hansen as a woman raising her hands.

In Egyptian, her name means Land of Neith, Neith being a war goddess.

Long after the fall of Carthage, Tanit is still venerated in North Africa under the Latin name of Juno Caelestis, for her identification with the Roman goddess Juno.[6]
From: Wiki

 

Tanit, or Tanith, is the Great Goddess of Carthage, worshipped there as its chief Deity. She is a Sky Goddess who ruled over the Sun, Stars, and Moon; and as a Mother Goddess She was invoked for fertility. The palm tree is Hers, as the desert version of the Tree of Life; and as symbolic of the life-force of the Earth the serpent is Hers as well—in fact Her name means "Serpent Lady". She is identified with both Ashtart (Astarte) and Athirat, and Her other symbols include the dove, grapes and the pomegranate (both symbolic of fruitfulness and fertility), the crescent moon, and, like Ashtart, the lion.

Carthage was a city of the Phoenician colony in northern Africa, not far from the modern city of Tunis in Tunisia. Carthage, the Roman rendition of the Phoenician name Karthadasht, which means "New Town", was founded in around the 9th century BCE, by Dido ("Giver" or "Grantor [of prayers]", or alternately "Wanderer") or Elissa (from the Phoenician Elishat), the daughter of the King of Tyre in Roman legend. Dido, however, being also used as an epithet of the Phoenician Moon-Goddess, is probably to be considered an aspect of or alternate name for Tanit, the patron Goddess of Carthage. Worship of Tanit dates to the 5th century BCE, and it is unsure whether Tanit was a local deity adapted by the Phoenician colonists or a version of Ashtart/Athirat they had brought with them from Phoenicia.

Tanit was the highest Deity of that city, called "the Lady of Carthage". With Her consort Ba'al-Hammon, the God of the Sky, She watched over and protected Carthage. As a protective Deity She had some martial aspects, and like Ashtart could be depicted riding a lion holding a spear or long sceptre. In Carthage She was said to have an Oracle; perhaps this is connected to Her role as Star-Goddess.


Tanit has Her own abstract symbol, peculiarly Hers (and accordingly called the "symbol of Tanit"): a triangle with a circle at the top, with a horizontal line between the two; sometimes two additional vertical bars come from the ends of the horizontal. This has been interpreted as either a stylization of an altar, or a woman or Goddess in a long dress, Her arms upraised in an attitude of worship or blessing. Some stelae do show a more realistic depiction of the Goddess in this attitude, so my money is on it as an abstract depiction of a woman. This symbol is found all over Carthage, though there is only one example of it in Phoenicia itself.

(...)

Tanit's worship was spread from Carthage to Spain, Malta and Sardinia, especially by soldiers. The temple on the acropolis of Selinus in Sicily may be Hers, for examples of Her symbol have been found there. Under Her name Virgo Caelestis, Tanit/Juno had a shrine in Rome on the north side of the Capitoline Hill.

(...)

Also called: Tanith, Tent, Thinit, Tinnit, Rat-tanit; Tanis is the Greek version of Her name. She was called "Lady of Carthage", "Lady of the Sanctuary", and "the Face of Ba'al". The Romans called Her Dea Caelestis, "the Heavenly Goddess", Virgo Caelestis "the Heavenly Virgin", and Caelestis Afrorum Dea, "the African/Carthaginian Heavenly Goddess", as well as the assimilated name Juno Caelestis.

She was identified with Aphrodite, Demeter, and Artemis by the Greeks and with Juno by the Romans, especially their Juno Lucina, Goddess of Light and Childbirth. The Romans also associated Her with the Magna Mater, the Great Mother, Rhea or Kybele.
From: Here

 

Tanit, also Tenit, a Phoenician and Pontic (Carthaginian) moon goddess, who was known largely from various inscriptions found along the North African coast and associated with the goddess Astarte. Her symbol is the triangular device with horizontal bars supporting a moon disc. Both deities are described as "ladies of the sanctuary." Tanit was the the supreme goddess of Carthage, known as the "face of Baal," until she was usurped by the Roman goddess Juno, and survived as the goddess Caelestis who also was worshipped in the Carthaginian temple. A.G.H.
From: HERE

Also see:
Article: Tanit of Carthage by Johanna Stuckey
Limestone stela with images of the goddess Tanit
Wiki: Religion in Carthage (briefly goes into the tophet sacrifices associated with her)

El

Ēl (אל) is a northwest Semitic word and name translated into English as either 'god' or 'God' or left untranslated as El, depending on the context.
In the Levant as a whole, El or Il was the supreme god, the father of mankind and all creatures and the husband of the Goddess Asherah as attested in the tablets of Ugarit.

The word El was found at the top of a list of gods as the Ancient of Gods or the Father of all Gods, in the ruins of the Royal Library of the Ebla civilization, in the archaeological site of Tell Mardikh in Syria dated to 2300 BC. He may have been a desert god at some point, as the myths say that he had two wives and built a sanctuary with them and his new children in the desert. El had fathered many gods, but most important were Hadad, Yaw and Mot, each of whom has similar attributes to the Greco-Roman gods Zeus, Ophion and Thanatos respectively. Ancient Greek mythographers identified El with Cronus (not Chronos).

Linguistic forms and meanings
Cognate forms are found throughout the Semitic languages with the exception of the ancient Ge'ez language of Ethiopia. Forms include Ugaritic ’il, pl. ’lm; Phoenician ’l pl. ’lm, Hebrew ’ēl, pl. ’⁏lîm; Aramaic ’l, Arabic Al; Akkadian ilu, pl. ilāti. The original meaning may have been 'strength, power'. In northwest Semitic usage ’l was both a generic word of any 'god' and the special name or title of a particular god who was distinguished from other gods as being the god, or even in our modern sense God. Ēl is listed at the head of many pantheons. El was the father god among the canaanites. But because the word sometimes refers to a god other than the great god Ēl it is often difficult to be certain whether Ēl followed by another name means the great god Ēl with a particular epithet applied or refers to another god entirely. For example, in the Ugaritic texts ’il mlk is understood to mean 'Ēl the King' but ’il hd means 'the god Hadad'. We know this only from context.

In Ugaritic an alternate plural form meaning 'gods' is ’ilhm, equivalent to Hebrew ’elōhîm 'gods'. But in Hebrew this word is also used for singular 'God' or 'god', is indeed by the most normal word for 'god' or 'God' in the singular (as well as for 'gods').

The stem ’l is found prominently in the earliest strata of east Semitic, northwest Semitic and south Semitic groups. Personal names including the stem ’l are found with similar patterns both in Amorite and South Arabic which indicates that probably already in Proto-Semitic ’l was both a generic term for 'god' and the common name or title of a single particular 'god' or 'God'.

FROM: El (god) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

******

Common epithets of ´El

Bull El / God - thôru ´ilu
El at the sources of the two rivers - ´ilu mabbukê naharêmi
El in the midst of the springs of the two oceans - ´ilu qirba ´apigê tihamatêmi
Father of Humanity - ´abi ´adamu
The Creator of Creatures - baniyu banawati
The Ageless One who Created Us - dordoru dykeninu
Kindly/Beneficent ´El the Compassionate/Sympathetic - lutipanu ´ilu du pa´idu
The King, the Father of Years/Time - malik ´abi shanima/shunemi
Biblical titles include:

´abi ´ad = "eternal father"
´el `olam, = "God/ ´El the Eternal One"
`attiq yomin/yomayya´ = "Ancient of Days,"
all of which clearly reflect the epithets of the Ugaritic ´El.

The chief Canaanite god is ´El, which means simply "God," familiar as one of the names of the single god of the Bible. The linguistic root may mean "That" or "the One." He is called "Creator of all Created Things," as well as "Father of Humanity." ´El is therefore the prime creator god of the pantheon, although we do not currently have a Canaanite creation story. ´El is also the king and head of the divine assembly, the council of the gods, although He is not necessarily 'biological' father of all the deities.

Despite His position as creator, ´El thereafter was comparatively inactive. He is described as an old bearded man and, in most stories we have, He is seated in His hall up on His mountain - between the two rivers which are the source of the world oceans. Although He is rather remote, and not usually directly approached, ´El is strong, powerful and wise. He is Thoru ´Ilu, the Bull God, identified with this animal for its strength and steadfastness. Whatever happens, He conserves His dignity.

´El is a major figure in most of the Ugaritic myths, in the stories of Ba`al, of Aqhat, of Keret, and of Shahar and Shalim. He is also at or near the top of the offering lists at Ugarit, figuring in all of them. Kings on Earth are referred to as Sons of ´El. ´El is also the host of the ritual feast association, the Marzeah, which among other events, sponsored an annual Feast for the Dead.
If we need His aid, we must first gain the assistance of another deity who can go to His distant palace. Frequently this is ´Asherah, although `Anat is often not shy to approach Him directly. But ´El is latipanu ´ilu dupa´idu, "the Compassionate God of Mercy." He is not easily moved to anger. The Kindly One, He blesses us and He forgives us when we do things we shouldn't. If we say we are sorry, this is usually sufficient, and He accepts this as atonement. He mourns for our pain and rejoices in our happiness.

`Anat says to ´El:
your decree, ´El, is wise;
your wisdom is forever;
A life of good fortune is your decree.

´Asherah says to ´El:
You are great, ´El,
indeed you are wise,
the grey hair of your beard indeed instructs you.

FROM: Qadash Kinahnu--a Canaanite-Phoenician Temple (has a lot of info about this pantheon and culture as well)

******

El

by Mark Raines

Jews, Christians, and Muslims usually lead adherents to believe that El simply translates to God, and is just one of the titles of the God they worship. They are right - to a point. El is simply a title, and it is one of the titles of the father god. But it is not only Jews, Christians, and Muslims who have worshiped Him. In fact, before Judaism ever existed (let alone Christianity or Islam), El was worshiped as the chief of the Canaanite pantheon. El has many intriguing titles such as Father of Humanity, the Creator of Creatures, and the King, the Father of Time. He is, without doubt, the god of the desert religions, since Abraham specifically called his god by this title: El Elyon. From the Bible, El also receives these titles: Eternal Father, El the Eternal One, and Ancient of Days.

But who is He? He is an ancient sky God, depicted as an old bearded man sitting upon His throne on the mountain between the two rivers which are the source of the world's oceans. As children, many of us pictured God as a bearded old man. You may never have heard the Ugaritic myths of El, but through genetic memory the truth of his elderliness rang out to you. However, this certainly does not mean that El is a powerless God. He is the undisputed leader of the pantheon, more powerful even than the great Ba'al (his son who died and was resurrected by El's daughter Anat). El is seen as unapproachable on His mountain, and the ancient Canaanite religion believed that a mediatrix, a go-between, was needed to send prayers to El.

This is true of the God of the desert religions as well. In Catholicism there is a tradition that Mary is the Mediatrix, who takes prayers before Yeshua and El. This continues an ancient tradition, in which Asherah (Lady of the Sea, who shares many similarities with Mary) takes petitions to El. Within all of Christianity, Yeshua himself is seen as the Mediatrix. Within Judaism, prayers are taken to El via the angels. But, according to the most ancient myths, He cannot hear them directly. This goes back to the ancient Canaanite myths, whether we knew it or not.

And let us not forget that our God, the God of the desert religions, is like this El in yet another significant way - He is constantly being spoken to on mountains and high places. Where did Moses commune with God? Mount Sinai. Where was the Temple built? Mount Moriah. Where did Yeshua give the beatitudes and pray frequently to His Father? Mount Olivet. What was seen as one of the most sacred places in Jerusalem? Mount Tsion. El, our God and their God, is a God of High Places! Perhaps that is why Melchizedek and Abraham gave him the title El Elyon, or God Most High.

But El has evolved over the years, or at least our vision of Him has evolved. He was originally seen as a distant God, always in need of a go-between to send prayers to Him. This tradition carried over into Judaism and Christianity to a lesser degree, but now it is almost gone. He was also not the only God, but the King of many Gods. This, too, carried over into Judaism until the time of the patriarchal prophets. Some of the prophets were allegedly able to defeat the prophets of Ba'al, but this is something any Canaanite priest could have predicted, and does not mean that Ba'al and the other Gods did not exist. El was the King of the Gods, more powerful even than Ba'al, so naturally His prophets would defeat Ba'al's. Indeed, Moses did not say that El commanded the Jews not to have any other Gods at all - the original translation says that there should be no other Gods before Him, implying that there were other Gods and that they could be worshiped as long as they were not worshiped more or as greater than El Himself. Remember that the apostates at Mount Sinai abandoned El completely for the golden calf - they were not worshiping El alongside the idol, but were worshiping the idol alone.

But, the reader may be wondering, what about Yahweh? Isn't he God the Father? No, "He" isn't, though that is a common misconception. Yahweh is the common mispronunciation of the Ineffable Name given to Moses, YHVH. YHVH is not the Father God, but represents the whole Godhead. El is but one aspect of that Godhead, the chief aspect, the Y. Sometimes he is called Yah, from the YH (first two letters of the tetragrammaton), but that's a rare name for him, hard to find although many mystical Jews today worship him as Yah.

El's Bride, or Consort, Asherah can be seen as the early form of the Goddess, the first H. His Foster-Son, Ba'al, can be seen as the early form of the Son God, the V, who later incarnated as Yeshua. [Again, remember that Ba'al was not necessarily a "fake" or "bad" because the prophets of El beat Ba'al's prophets - they had to beat Ba'al's prophets, because El was the King of the pantheon]. Finally, Ba'al's Sister-Consort, Anat, can be seen as the early form of the Daughter Goddess, the second H. Many similarities exist between the old Canaanite pantheon and the Judeo-Christian pantheon, and fragments of the old worship still exist today. Shekinah is the evolved form of Asherah, just as Matronit contains remnants of Anat. Yeshua does share similarities with Ba'al, including His subordinance to the Father, El, and the fact that he was killed and resurrected in Springtime.

To conclude, El has always been in Judeo-Christianity, but He existed long before that. He was known as El to all three of the patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - and to the twelve sons of Jacob. He was known to the Jews in captivity in Egypt, and to Moses who came to meet the full Godhead - YHVH - on the mountain. And now, El in His original form is known to us today, as the distant but still caring Chief of our Godhead. And we still speak to Him through our Mediatrix - who was known as Asherah to all six of the Israelite matriarchs - Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah - and to Dinah their daughter. Asherah was certainly known to the Jews in captivity in Egypt, and later evolved into Shekinah. Asherah in Her original form is known to us today in yet another incarnation, the form of Mary, our Mediatrix, who takes our prayers before El, King of the Gods.

FROM: Qadash Kinahnu--a Canaanite-Phoenician Temple

******
El
Might, strength.
In Hebrew and related languages it designates “the divine being.” Many biblical names employ El with other words, such as Bethel (“the house of God”), Eleazar (“God has helped”), Michael (“who is like God”), Daniel (“a judge is God”), Ezekiel (“God will strengthen”), and Israel (“to prevail with God” or perhaps “let God prevail”). Possibly the best known use of El is in Elohim, plural form signifying the “almighty” or “omnipotent,” a name applied to the Father.
FROM: Bible Dictionary

******

The Father God named El
El is the name by which the supreme Canaanite deity is known. This is also a name by which God is called in the Old Testament -- El, the God (Elohim) of Israel (el elohe yisrael: Gen. 33:20). In most prose it occurs more often with an adjunct: El Elyon (the most high God, Gen. 14:1, El Shaddai (traditionally, God Almighty, Gen. 17:1), El Hai (The living God, Josh. 3:10), and very commonly in the plural of majesty, Elohim. In Hebrew poetry El is much more frequent, where it stands quite often without any adjunct (Ps. 18:31, 33, 48; 68:21; Job 8:3).

The word El is a generic name for "god" in Northwest Semitic (Hebrew and Ugaritic) and as such it is also used in the Old Testament for heathen deities or idols (Ex. 34:14; Ps. 81:10; Is. 44:10). The original generic term was 'ilum; dropping the mimation and the nominative case ending (u) becomes 'el in Hebrew. It was almost certainly an adjectival formation (intransitive participle) from the root "to be strong, powerful" ('wl), meaning "The Strong (or Powerful) One."

In Canaanite paganism the el, par excelence, was the head of the pantheon. As the god, El was, in accordance with the general irrationality and moral grossness of Canaanite religion, a dim and shadowy figure, who, Philo says, had three wives, who were also his sisters, and who could readily step down from his eminence and become the hero of sordid escapades and crimes. The Ugaritic poems add the crime of uncontrolled lust to his character and the description of his seduction of two unnamed women is the most sensuous in ANE literature (much of Ugaritic literature is R rated at best).

Despite all this, El was considered the exalted "father of years" (abu shanima), the "father of man" (abu adami), and "father bull", that is, the progenitor of the gods, tacitly likened to a bull in the midst of a herd of cows. Like Homer's Zeus, he was "the father of men and gods."
FROM: Religion of the Canaanites

******

El
In Semitic religions, sometimes indicating a specific god, at other times indicating "god" in general.
In ancient times, the word "El" was used for "God" all over the Middle East. Its meaning could be interpreted as 'power' (from Hebrew) or 'first' (from Aramaic), two designations that can be seen as complementary.
When El is used as the name of a god, he is the main god, the god of power. Epithets for El can be "Father of mankind, "Creator of the creatures", "Benevolent and merciful" and "The source of the river."
When El is not used as a god's name, it still indicates the highest god. Other references to the highest god may be Adon, "Lord", Baal, "Master", or Malek, "king."
In Canaanite and Phoenician religions, El had his own cult centres, unlike the way in which the highest god was treated in many other polytheistic religions.
From the ancient Syrian town of Ugarit, inscriptions to El as Qds (holy) have been found. Here he is also the husband of Asherah and the father of all the other gods, except Baal.
In general, El is not active in myths. He shares such a status with other higher gods in their pantheons.
He is most commonly represented as a bull. He may also be depicted as an old man with a long beard and even two wings.
The Old Testament uses El as a synonym for Yahweh.
FROM: Encyclopedia of the Orient

******

Leader of the gods. The first Canaanite god, El dwelt on Mount Saphon, and it was under his aegis that Baal married Anat, defeated the sea god Yam and the death lord Mot, and was installed as the divine bestower of life-giving rain. Represented as an aged man, El wore bull's horns, the symbol of strength, and was usually depicted as seated. It is thought that he corresponded to the Hebrew god, Yahweh. He is also known as El 'Elyon, "God Most High."
From: Pantheon.org

******

Athirat is the Canaanite Earth and Mother Goddess, called "Creator of the Gods", who is also known as Asherah. The God El, (the name just means "God") is Her brother and husband; She is famed for Her great wisdom and as such acts as El's counsellor. She is known for Her protective attitude and kindliness towards Her many children, and frequently persuades El to act on their behalf. She was said to be the mother of the seventy gracious Gods, as well as the Gods Ba'al and Athtar the Terrible, the King of the Earth who is perhaps a desert God, Marah, a benevolent Water-Goddess, and Anat, the Maiden Warrior Goddess. She is often confused with Ashtart (better known by Her Greek name, Astarte), as well as Anat, and the three may all represent differing aspects of the same Great Goddess.

Athirat is associated with the Tree of Life, and a famous ivory box-lid of Mycenean workmanship found at Ugarit, dating from 1300 BCE, shows Her as symbolically representing the Tree. She wears an elaborate skirt and jewelry, and though topless Her hair is delicately dressed; She is smiling, and in Her hands She holds wheat sheaves, which She offers to a pair of goats.
When El was young, he came across two beautiful Goddesses washing their clothes in the Sea. They were Athirat and the Goddess Rahmaya, and, after buttering Them up by cooking a meal for Them, He asked them to choose between being His daughters or wives. They choose the latter and became the mothers of the Gods Shachar "Dawn" and Shalim "Dusk". Rohmaya is evidently a double of Athirat, and perhaps these two aspects of the Mother Goddess bear some connection to Ashtart as Goddess of Morning and Evening Stars, i.e., the planet Venus. (Shalim is considered in some lineages to be the father of Helel, the "Light Bringer", in Latin, Lucifer, the Morning Star.)

Athirat is a key player in the 14th century BCE Epic of Ba'al. In this tale, the River-God Yam has been made King of the Gods by His father El; but His rule was harsh, and the Gods begged their mother Athirat to intercede for them. She offers Herself to Yam, but Ba'al Her son will not hear of it; instead He sets out to destroy Yam Himself. After He succeeds, He laments that He has no palace, as befits a son of the Goddess Athirat. He entreats Her to get El's permission to build this house, which She successfully does. In this Epic of Ba'al it is important to note that Athirat, Ashtart and Anat are seperate and distinct Goddesses with their own roles and personalities.

Athirat is a powerful Goddess, and many times the other Gods ask for Her to help Them, or to try to influence Her husband El for Their good. As the keeper of Wisdom She is the one who chooses the successor to Aleyin (an aspect of Ba'al as the dying vegetation God), and after His death She instructs Anat in the proper ritual needed to ensure the fertility of the vines.
She is connected with the Sea, as She is said to live by its shores; and Her sons are called "the Cleavers of the Sea": She was invoked to protect sailors and sea-farers.

She shared El's temple in Ugarit (the modern Ras Shamrah) and many representations of Her are known from that site. She was considered the consort of Ba'al-Hadad in Syria and had a temple there. The Ashtoreth of the Hebrew Scriptures, worshipped along with Ba'al as a divine pair, may refer to Athirat the Mother Goddess, or to Ashtart (Astarte). There is much confusion on the subject, among both ancient and modern sources, and it's likely I'm just as confused, though I have done my best. As "Ba'al" is properly a title meaning "Lord" and was used of differing Gods depending on the location, it is quite possible that what is meant in the Bible by "Asheroth" simply refers to the local chief Goddess as the consort of Ba'al or El, which in some places would be Ashtart, in others Athirat. See Ashtart for the Biblical references.

Like Ashtart, Athirat is associated with the lion. She is generally shown as a nude Goddess with curly hair cupping Her breasts with Her hands. She is also associated with the snake, and an alternate name for Her is Chawat, which in Hebrew transliterates to "Hawah", or in English "Eve"; so She may well be the root of the Biblical Eve. Like the later Carthaginian Goddess Tanit, whose name means "Serpent Lady", Athirat was represented as a palm tree or pillar with a snake coiled around it, and the name Athirat derives from a root meaning "straight".

Atargatis of Syria is likely a late combination of or confusion with both Athirat and Ashtart/Astarte.

Alternate spellings: 'Athirat, Airat, Asherat, Asherah, Sherah. In the Ugaritic texts She is called Ashertu, and called the unfaithful wife of Elkunirsa, a forerunner of El. The Hittites knew Her as Ashertus or Asertu; to the Amorites She was Ashirta; and to the Akkadians She was Ashratum.

Titles: "Athirat-of-the-Sea", "Lady of the Sea", "Mother of the Gods", "In Wisdom the Mistress of the Gods", "Mistress in Wisdom", "Lady Who Treads Upon the Sea"; Elat or Elath, "Goddess" (this likely makes Her related to the Arabian Goddess Al-Lat); Labi'atu, "the Lion Lady"; Dat ba'thani, "Lady of the Serpent"; Rabat Chawat 'Elat, "Great Lady Eve the Goddess"; Qudshu or Qadesh, "Holy" is a title used of Her as well as Anat. In the Sinai She was given the epithet "Lady of Turquoise", and the Egyptians equated Her with their Hathor.
FROM: Thalia Took's Obscure Goddesses Directory "Elat"

******

Other Links:

• Phoenician Religion -- Pagan
• Thalia Took's Obscure Goddesses Directory-- Phoenician
  Father Gods: El, Abba, Yahweh, Elohim, Paraclete (Holy Spirit "Comforter")

Asherah

Athirat is the Canaanite Earth and Mother Goddess, called "Creator of the Gods", who is also known as Asherah. The God El, (the name just means "God") is Her brother and husband; She is famed for Her great wisdom and as such acts as El's counsellor. She is known for Her protective attitude and kindliness towards Her many children, and frequently persuades El to act on their behalf. She was said to be the mother of the seventy gracious Gods, as well as the Gods Ba'al and Athtar the Terrible, the King of the Earth who is perhaps a desert God, Marah, a benevolent Water-Goddess, and Anat, the Maiden Warrior Goddess. She is often confused with Ashtart (better known by Her Greek name, Astarte), as well as Anat, and the three may all represent differing aspects of the same Great Goddess.

Athirat is associated with the Tree of Life, and a famous ivory box-lid of Mycenean workmanship found at Ugarit, dating from 1300 BCE, shows Her as symbolically representing the Tree. She wears an elaborate skirt and jewelry, and though topless Her hair is delicately dressed; She is smiling, and in Her hands She holds wheat sheaves, which She offers to a pair of goats.

When El was young, he came across two beautiful Goddesses washing their clothes in the Sea. They were Athirat and the Goddess Rahmaya, and, after buttering Them up by cooking a meal for Them, He asked them to choose between being His daughters or wives. They choose the latter and became the mothers of the Gods Shachar "Dawn" and Shalim "Dusk". Rohmaya is evidently a double of Athirat, and perhaps these two aspects of the Mother Goddess bear some connection to Ashtart as Goddess of Morning and Evening Stars, i.e., the planet Venus. (Shalim is considered in some lineages to be the father of Helel, the "Light Bringer", in Latin, Lucifer, the Morning Star.)

Athirat is a key player in the 14th century BCE Epic of Ba'al. In this tale, the River-God Yam has been made King of the Gods by His father El; but His rule was harsh, and the Gods begged their mother Athirat to intercede for them. She offers Herself to Yam, but Ba'al Her son will not hear of it; instead He sets out to destroy Yam Himself. After He succeeds, He laments that He has no palace, as befits a son of the Goddess Athirat. He entreats Her to get El's permission to build this house, which She successfully does. In this Epic of Ba'al it is important to note that Athirat, Ashtart and Anat are seperate and distinct Goddesses with their own roles and personalities.

Athirat is a powerful Goddess, and many times the other Gods ask for Her to help Them, or to try to influence Her husband El for Their good. As the keeper of Wisdom She is the one who chooses the successor to Aleyin (an aspect of Ba'al as the dying vegetation God), and after His death She instructs Anat in the proper ritual needed to ensure the fertility of the vines.

She is connected with the Sea, as She is said to live by its shores; and Her sons are called "the Cleavers of the Sea": She was invoked to protect sailors and sea-farers.

She shared El's temple in Ugarit (the modern Ras Shamrah) and many representations of Her are known from that site. She was considered the consort of Ba'al-Hadad in Syria and had a temple there. The Ashtoreth of the Hebrew Scriptures, worshipped along with Ba'al as a divine pair, may refer to Athirat the Mother Goddess, or to Ashtart (Astarte). There is much confusion on the subject, among both ancient and modern sources, and it's likely I'm just as confused, though I have done my best. As "Ba'al" is properly a title meaning "Lord" and was used of differing Gods depending on the location, it is quite possible that what is meant in the Bible by "Asheroth" simply refers to the local chief Goddess as the consort of Ba'al or El, which in some places would be Ashtart, in others Athirat. See Ashtart for the Biblical references.

Like Ashtart, Athirat is associated with the lion. She is generally shown as a nude Goddess with curly hair cupping Her breasts with Her hands. She is also associated with the snake, and an alternate name for Her is Chawat, which in Hebrew transliterates to "Hawah", or in English "Eve"; so She may well be the root of the Biblical Eve. Like the later Carthaginian Goddess Tanit, whose name means "Serpent Lady", Athirat was represented as a palm tree or pillar with a snake coiled around it, and the name Athirat derives from a root meaning "straight".
Atargatis of Syria is likely a late combination of or confusion with both Athirat and Ashtart/Astarte.

Alternate spellings: 'Athirat, Airat, Asherat, Asherah, Sherah. In the Ugaritic texts She is called Ashertu, and called the unfaithful wife of Elkunirsa, a forerunner of El. The Hittites knew Her as Ashertus or Asertu; to the Amorites She was Ashirta; and to the Akkadians She was Ashratum.

Titles: "Athirat-of-the-Sea", "Lady of the Sea", "Mother of the Gods", "In Wisdom the Mistress of the Gods", "Mistress in Wisdom", "Lady Who Treads Upon the Sea"; Elat or Elath, "Goddess" (this likely makes Her related to the Arabian Goddess Al-Lat); Labi'atu, "the Lion Lady"; Dat ba'thani, "Lady of the Serpent"; Rabat Chawat 'Elat, "Great Lady Eve the Goddess"; Qadshu or Qadesh, "Holy" is a title used of Her as well as Anat. In the Sinai She was given the epithet "Lady of Turquoise", and the Egyptians equated Her with their Hathor.

FROM: http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/athirat.html

Asherah was a goddess popular with the ancient Israelites, despite their priests' call to remain loyal to Yahweh. Biblical prophets condemn her repeatedly under the name Ashtoreth; it is the use of this name, a seeming combination of Asherah and Astarte, which has caused so much confusion for modern scholars.
FROM: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/asherah.html

Asherah (from Hebrew אשרה), generally taken as identical with the Ugaritic goddess Athirat (more accurately transcribed as ʼAṯirat), was a major northwest Semitic mother goddess, appearing occasionally also in Akkadian sources as Ashratum/Ashratu and in Hittite as Asherdu(s) or Ashertu(s) or Aserdu(s) or Asertu(s).
FOR MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asherah

Other Links:
Asherah
JewishEncyclopedia.com - ASHERAH
The Hebrew Goddess, Asherah, Shekinah, consort and beloved of God-the ...
Asherah: Supreme Goddess of the Ancient Levant
Asherah at Sacred Source
Goddess of Palestine
Asherah: Iconography

Threads on MW:
Anyone here with an affinity to Asherah?
Asherah
Asherah
Asherah
Asherah and Inanna

Anat

Anat, or Anath, is the Canaanite Warrior Goddess, the Maiden who loves battle, the virgin Goddess of Sacrifice, a swordswoman and archer. She is famous for having a violent temperament and for taking joy in slaughter. In the 14th century BCE Ugartic text The Epic of Ba'al, She defends Her brother the Storm-God Ba'al, called by His title Ayelin, "Mightiest", against Mot or Mavet, the force of sterility and death who represents the intense heat of the dry season which causes the crops to wither. But Mot triumphs against Ba'al and sends Him to the Land of the Dead; Anat, with help from the Sun-Goddess Shapash, Who has access to the Underworld, brings Him back to life. Anat then takes revenge on Mot, cutting him up into tiny pieces, winnowing Him like grain, grinding Him up, and then sowing Him in the fields. Ba'al and Mot are symbolic of the alternating seasons of rain and drought, of life and death, and by grinding Mot up and scattering Him like grain, Anat allows for the season of plenty to come again and the wheat to be reborn another year.

Before Anat goes into battle She prepares Herself by anointing Herself with henna and ambergris, and dressing in saffron (gold) and murex (purple) dyed clothing, both of which are famously expensive, and royal, colors. She then proceeds to slaughter the enemies of Ba'al, across west and east, hanging severed heads from Her back, and affixing hands to Her belt. Laughing and rejoicing, She wades to Her knees in the blood of soldiers, "to Her thighs in the gore of quick warriors". When the slaughter is finished (and it takes a while), She then washes Herself in the rain-water of Her brother Ba'al, and again adorns Herself with ambergris.

Though often called "Virgin", Anat also has a strong sexual aspect, much like the War-and-Sex Goddess of the Irish the Morrigan, and, though She is not usually considered the consort of Ba'al, was said to have had seventy-seven children by Him, after They had copulated in the forms of cow and bull. Given this, calling Anat a "virgin" has got to be taken to mean "independent young woman", not "non-sexual young woman".

Though She is the daughter of El, the patriarch of the Gods, She does not hesitate to threaten Him when She feels Ba'al is being treated unfairly. If El does not grant Ba'al a splendid palace like all the other Gods have, "I shall surely drag him [El] like a lamb to the ground, I shall make his grey hairs run with blood, the grey hairs of his beard [thick] with gore."

Not surprisingly, people sought to placate Anat, and She was invoked to grant peace: "Remove from the earth war, Set in the dust love; Pour peace amidst the earth, Tranquility amidst the fields" (also from the Epic of Ba'al).

Her worship was also known in Egypt, where She was considered the consort of the Chaos-God Seth, and Her sexual aspects led Her to be associated with Min, who, if you've ever seen a picture of Him, is very obviously a God of Male Fertility. She was especially popular in the New Kingdom, and She was one of Ramesses II's patron Deities, Who watched over Him in battle. He even named one of his (zillion) daughters Bint-Anat, or "Daughter of Anat" in Her honor.

Anat represents necessary endings, sacrifices to be made to serve a greater purpose, or old habits that may no longer serve and need to be let go. In this way the field of growth grows green again.


Alternate names: 'Anat, Anath, Anaitis, Anait, Anat-bethel. She is called Rahmay or Rahmaya, "the Merciful"; this is also the title of one of the two wives of El, with Athirat- of-the-Sea, who are the mothers of the Gods of Dawn and Dusk, Shachar and Shalem. As Anatha-Baetyl, likely of Syrian origin, she is sometimes called the wife of Jehovah. In Egypt She could be called Antit.


Epithets: She is called "Adolescent Anat", Batalat 'Anat, "the Maiden", "Sister of the Mighty One", i.e., Ba'al.

From: Anat, the Phoenician Goddess of War and Sacrifice

Much of the world's religion today originated in the regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea, including what is today Israel, together with its neighboring countries. In ancient times, these old states often imported and exported their gods as people migrated about, as these nations fought each other in wars, a fact that certainly had no small impact on our modern beliefs. Often, the attributes of the gods of one region were incorporated into the gods of another region. An example of this is the goddess, Anat, who was one of a number of deities imported into Egypt from the Syrian region.

The name Anat occurs in several forms in Ugaritic, Hebrew, Akkadian, and Egyptian, and as in such cases, the forms may vary widely. For example, in the Ugarit V Deity List it is spelled da-na-tu to be pronounced 'Anatu'. Otherwise in Phoenician it is `nt and is pronounced 'Anat', 'Anatu', 'Anath' or 'Anata'. The name is usually translated from Hebrew as 'Anath', but it could also be 'Anat'. The Akkadian form is usually written as 'Anta' or 'Antu'. The Egyptian forms are 'Anant', 'Anit', 'Anti', and 'Antit'. We may also find variations of her name in reference books such as Anthat.

A major goddess of fertility, sexual love, hunting and war, the Goddess Anat was known among the Canaanites in prehistoric times, and was doubtless of considerable importance in that region. From the fertile agricultural area along the eastern Mediterranean coast, her cult spread throughout the Levant by the middle of the third millennium BC. Around the beginning of the Phoenician period (circa 1200 BC) Anat enjoyed a significant cult following. She was very prominent at Ugarit, a major religious center, and appears frequently in Ugaritic literary works incorporating mythical elements, in deity and offering lists, and in votive inscriptions.

Her cult became established in Egypt by the end of the Middle Kingdom, even before the Hyksos (Asiatics probably from Syria) invasion of Egypt, so her presence certainly attests to the slow immigration (or perhaps more often, enslavement as the spoils of war) of the Hyksos prior to their ultimate rule of Egypt. However, she attained prominence, particularly in the north (the Delta) during the Second Intermediate Period rule of the Hyksos, who appear to have promoted her cult in Egypt. She was represented at Memphis like all but the most local of deities, and sanctuaries were dedicated to her at the Hyksos capital of Tanis (Egypt) and Beth-Shan (Palistine).

Yet, while the rulers of Egypt's New Kingdom took every step to denounce the Hyksos dynasty, her prestige reached its height in Egypt under Ramesses II who adopted Anat as his personal guardian in battle. Even Ramesses II's dog, shown rushing onto a vanquished Libyan in a carving in Beit el Wali temple, has the name "Anat in vigor". He also named his daughter (whom he later married) Bint-Anat, which means Daughter of Anat. He rebuilt Tanis and enlarged the sanctuary of Anat there. The Elephantine papyri dating from the late sixth century BC indicate that Anat was one of the two goddesses worshiped at the Temple of Yahu (Yahweh) by the Jews on the island of Elephantine in the Nile.

In Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine the worship of Anat persisted into Christian times (c. 200 AD), and perhaps much longer in popular religion. In Egypt traditional religion was practiced until the end of the Egyptian period (c. 400 AD). Anat may have been worshiped in one or Baal more of the few Egyptian temples that remained open into the early 6th century AD. In contemporary times the worship of Anat has been revived in neo-pagan religion.

In Ugaritic texts she is the daughter of El, sister (though perhaps not literally) and consort of Baal. As Ba`al's companion and help-mate, She is goddess of dew and the fertility that it brings. Apparently, through the union of Anat and Baal, an offspring was born in the form of a wild bull. She may be Rachmay, one of the two nursemaids of the Gracious Gods mentioned in the eponymous ritual text. She is also the twin sister of Myrrh. At Tanis in Egypt she was regarded as the daughter of Re. In the Egyptian myth of the Contest between Horus and Seth, Anat and Astarte appear as daughters of Re and consorts of Seth (whom the Egyptians themselves identified with Baal).

From cuneiform text, Anat appears much the ruthless goddess. In her martial aspect she confines herself to slaying the enemies of Baal. She participates in the confrontation between Baal and Yam-Nahar. In a missing portion of the text she slays Yam and other enemies of Baal. During a victory celebration she departs to slaughter the warriors of two local towns. She joyfully wades in their blood, pours a peace offering and cleans up. She intercedes with El on Baal's behalf to obtain the necessary permission for a palace to be built for Baal. Later, when Baal is killed by Mot (Death) in an archetypal battle, she buries him, hunts down Mot, and takes revenge by cutting, winnowing, grinding, and burning Mot like grain. In another myth she coveted the splendid bow belonging to a youth called Aqhat. When he refuses to part with this bow, Ana sends an eagle to slay him.

(snipped)

For the rest of the article: Anat, Mother of Gods

`Anat, `Anath, `Anatu, `Anata (Ugarit);
Anta, Antu (Akkadian);
Anit, Anti, Antit, Anant (Egypt.)

Common epithets of `Anat
# Virgin/ Maiden - btlt `nt, batulatu `Anatu
# Adolescent Girl - rhm `nt, Rachmaya
# The Lady - sht (sitt Arabic)
# lovely/ charming/ fairest daughter, the sister of Ba`al - n`mt. bn. ´aht. b`l
# Strength of Life - `az chayim
# Anat The Destroyer - `nt chbly
# ybmt l`mm, yabamat li´imim - the meaning of this is uncertain, some possibilities are:

the Kindred of the Peoples (of Ugarit)
Mistress of (the) Peoples
Mother/ Progenitress of Nations
(Widowed) 'Sister in Law' of Heroes
Sister-in-law of the Thousand (Deities)

Other names of `Anat found in Egypt:
# `Anat-her (Anat agrees) - 1700 BCE on a Hyksos scarab
# Herit-`Anta (Terror of Anat) - 1700 BCE on a Hyksos scarab in Aramaic
# the daughter of Ptah - 1555-1200 BCE, 18th & 19th dynasties, in Memphis
# Anati - 14th century BCE, Amarna Tablets
# Anatbethel (means: Anat-house-of-god) - 6th & 5th century BC, Elephantine Island in the Nile

Linguistic fusions of `Anat & `Athtartu
# Antit - at Beth-Shan
# `Antart - in Egypt
# Anatanta - at Tanis in Egypt, period of Ramses II
# `Anat-`Ashtart - in later Syria
# `Attar`atta = Atargatis (Gr.) - in Aramaic language

The Goddess Anat, enthroned with shield and mace, on a stone stela from Ugarit `Anat is a compex Ugaritic goddess: Maidenly, Sexual, War-like, whose abode is the Mountain of ´inbib. Her most common epithet in Ugarit is the Maiden (batalat), meaning, not virgo intacta, but spouse of no one, perhaps a perpetually impetuous adolescent. At the same time She is sister and possibly lover of Ba`al, seemingly appearing as a heifer to Ba`al's bull and possibly mother of some of Ba`al's offspring as calves, although never His wife; for, at times, He transforms into a bull and She into a heifer, to stress their fertility, and together they bring forth seventy, even eighty, i.e., many progeny.

Mark Smith synopsizes Her etomology as follows: In the Ugaritica V deity-list, Her name is written as da-na-tu4, vocalized as `anatu. Gray compares Arabic `anwat, "violence"; McCarter connects it with Akkadian ittu, "sign," hence the goddess is the sign of the presence of the god; Deem relates it to a putative BH root *`nh, "to love, to make love" and with an agricultural term m`nh/m`nt, "a turn of the plow, a furrow." Finally, there is a secondary connection between it and `n, "spring."

As Ba`al's companion and help-mate, She is goddess of dew and the fertility that it brings. One of Her epithets is Strength of Life - `az chayim. Her grace and beauty were considered among the acme of perfection. She is sometimes described carrying distaff and spindle. She is also a warrior, armed with spear and shield, a goddess of the hunt and of war, aiding Ba`al in His battle with Yahm and avenging Ba`al's death by slaying Mot. Another common epithet for Her is Yabamat Li1imim, which meaning, although not entirely clear, may be "progenitress (of heroes)" or "protector of Her people." And She is sometimes called a "wanton." In fact, She is a female who freely enjoys the pleasures of sex as sacred. She is sometimes identified as the Qadashu, the "Holy One," goddess of love and desire.

(snipped)

For the rest of the article, see: Anat

Anat (Anath, Rahmay - 'the merciful')

She Baal's sister and the daughter of El. Goddess of war, the hunt, and savagery. She is an archer. Virgin, sister-in-law (progenitor?) of peoples (Li'mites'?). She and Athirat are nursemaids to the gracious gods.

She restrains Baal when he intends to attack Yam's messengers. In missing texts, she killed Yam-Nahar, the dragon, the seven-headed serpent. She also destroyed Arsh, Atik, Ishat, and Zabib, all enemies of Baal.

She holds a feast at Baal's palace to celebrate his victory over Yam. After the guests arrive, she departs her abode and adorns herself in rouge and henna, closes the doors and slaughters the inhabitant of two nearby towns, possibly Baal's enemies. She makes a belt of their heads and hands and wades through the blood. She lures the towns' warriors inside to sit and joyfully massacres them. She then makes a ritual peace offering and cleans up. This is possibly related to a seasonal fertility ritual welcoming the autumn rains. Anat receives messengers from Baal thinking that some new foe has arisen, but they assure her that he only wishes that she make a peace offering that he might tell her the secret of lightning and seek it on Mt. Zephon. She does so, demanding first to see the lightning, and is welcomed by Baal from afar. Hearing him complain of lack of a proper mansion, she storms off to El, creating tremors. She threatens to mangle his face lest he heed her and have Baal's court constructed, yet her plea is rejected. She is assisted in her petition, possibly by Athtart. She accompanies Baal to Athirat with a bribe and assists Athirat in her successful petition to El for Baal's court.

After Baal dies, she searches for him and, finding his body goes into a violent fit of mourning. She has Shapash take his body to Mt. Zephon, where she buries it and holds a feast in his honor. After seven years of drought, she finds Mot, and cuts, winnows, and sows him like corn.

She attends the feast where Daniel presents Aqhat with a bow and arrows set made by Kothar-and-Khasis. Desiring the bow, she offers Aqhat riches and immortality, for it. He refuses and so she promises vengeance upon him should he transgress and leaves for Mt. Lel to denounce him to El. Upset with El's response, she threatens to strike his head, sarcasticly suggesting that Aqhat might save him. El remarks that he won't hinder her revenge, so she finds Aqhat, and taking the form of a kinswoman, lures him off to Qart-Abilim. Unsuccessful with her first attempt there, she calls her attendant warrior Yatpan to take the form of an eagle, and with a flock of similar birds pray strike Aqhat as he sits on the mountain. They do so and Aqhat is slain, unfortunately, the bow falls into the waters and is lost and Anat laments that her actions and Aqhat's death were in vain.

When Baal was out hunting, she followed after him and copulated with him in the form of a cow. She gave birth to 'a wild ox' or a 'buffalo', visiting Mt. Zephon to tell Baal of the good news. This is probably not their only affair.

From: here

Name Forms and Etymology
The name Anat occurs in several forms in Ugaritic, Hebrew, Akkadian, and Egyptian. In the Ugarit V Deity List it is spelled da-na-tu to be pronounced 'Anatu' 1. Otherwise in Phoenician it is `nt and is pronounced 'Anat', 'Anatu', 'Anath' or 'Anata'. The name is usually transliterated from Hebrew as 'Anath', but it could also be 'Anat'. The Akkadian form is usually written as 'Anta' or 'Antu'. The Egyptian forms are 'Anant', 'Anit', 'Anti', and 'Antit'. The etymology is uncertain and many proposals have been set forth, mostly by way of speculation. If the name is related to the root `n (ayin nun) signifying a spring of water it may represent a conection with the goddess Baalat Be`er know from a place name recorded in Vetus Testementum 2. (cf. Baalat Be`er)

History and Geography of Cult
A major goddess of fertility, sexual love, hunting and war. She was known among the Canaanites in prehistoric times. From the fertile agricultural area along the eastern Mediterranean coast, her cult had spread throughout the Levant by the middle of the third millennium BCE 3 . Around the beginning of the Phoenician period (circa 1200 BCE) Anat enjoyed a significant cult following. She was quite prominent at Ugarit, a major religious center, and appears frequently in Ugaritic literary works incorporating mythical elements, in deity and offering lists, and in votive inscriptions.

The cult had become established in Egypt by the end of the Middle Kingdom and attained prominence, particularly in Lower Egypt during the Hyksos Dynasty 4. She was represented at Memphis like all but the most local of deities, and sanctuaries were dedicated to her at the Hyksos capital of Zoan (Greek Tanis) and Beth-Shan. Her prestige reached its height in Egypt under Ramses II who adopted Anat as his personal guardian in battle. He named his daughter Bin-Anat, Daughter of Anat. He rebuilt Zoan and enlarged the sanctuary of Anat there, renaming the place, "City of Ramses". The Elephantine papyri dating from the late sixth century BCE indicate that Anat was one of the two goddesses worshiped at the Temple of Yahu (Yahweh) by the Jews on the island of Elephantine in the Nile 5.

In Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine the worship of Anat persisted into Christian times (c. 200 CE) 6, perhaps much longer in popular religion. In Egypt traditional religion was practiced until the end of the Egyptian period (c. 400 CE). Anat may have been worshiped in one or more of the few Egyptian temples that remained open into the early 6th century CE. In contemporary times the worship of Anat has been revived in neo-pagan religion.

Epithets
Although terrible as a war deity she was regarded as a just and benevolent goddess of beauty, sexuality, and of the fertility of crops, animals, and men. In her martial aspect she confines herself to slaying the enemies of Baal. Anat is a complex and somewhat paradoxical goddess as can be seen from the epithets applied to her. Although she is regarded as Mother, the most common epithet at Ugarit is batulat, Virgin or Maiden 7. She is sometimes called Wanton, in reference to her putative lust for sexual intercourse and the bloodshed of war 8. Other common epithets include: Adolescent Anat, Fairest daughter-sister of Baal, Lady, Strength of Life, Anat the Destroyer 9, and Lady of the Mountain 10.

Several epithets are known from Egyptian inscriptions. From Aramaic inscriptions of the Hyksos period (c.1700 BCE): "Anat-her", Anat agrees or Agreeable Anat, and "Herit-Anta", Terror of Anat 11. From inscriptions at Memphis dating to the 15th to the 12th centuries BCE: "Bin-Ptah", Daughter of Ptah 12. And from Elephantine "Beth-El", House of El or House of God 13.

Mythology
In Ugaritic texts she is the daughter of El, sister and consort of Baal. She may be Rachmay, one of the two nursemaids of the Gracious Gods mentioned in the eponymous ritual text. She is also the twin sister of Myrrh. She participates in the confrontation between Baal and Yam-Nahar. In a missing portion of the text she slays Yam and other enemies of Baal. During a victory celebration she departs to slaughter the warriors of two local towns. She joyfully wades in their blood, pours a peace offering and cleans up. She intercedes with El on Baal's behalf to obtain the necessary permission for a palace to be built for Baal. Later, when Baal is killed by Mot (Death) in an archetypal battle, she buries him, hunts down Mot, and takes revenge by cutting, winnowing, grinding, and burning Mot like grain. She also features in several other myths 14.

At Zoan she was regarded as the daughter of Ra. In the Egyptian myth of the Contest between Horus and Seth, Anat and Ashtart appear as daughters of Ra and consorts of Seth (whom the Egyptians themselves identified with Baal).

Iconography In Phoenician iconography Anat is usually depicted nude with exaggerated sexual organs and a coiffure similar to Hathor 15. She is sometimes depicted with bow and arrow, and with the lion, her sacred animal 16. Otherwise she may be armed with a spear and shield, or a spear and a spindle.

An Egyptian inscription from Beth-Shan shows "Antit" with a plumed crown. In her left hand is the "Scepter of Happiness", and in her right the "Ankh of Life" 17. Iconography at Zoan from the time of Ramses II shows Anat on a throne with lance, battle ax, and shield above an inscription reading, "To Antit that she may give life, prosperity, and health to the Ka of Hesi-Nekht" 18,19.

From: here

Other sites:
Anat, Warrior Virgin of the Ancient Levant
Wikipedia article
Anat

Also see: El {God of the Week}

Ba'al

Ba`al

Common epithets of Ba`al
# Most High Prince/Master - ´al´iyn. b`l, ´al´iyanu ba`lu
# Conqueror of Warriors - ´al´iy. qrdm, ´al´iyu qarradima
# Mightiest, Most High, Supreme, Powerful, Puissant - ´al´iyn, ´al´iyanu, 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 ´aretz or zubulu ba`lu ´aretsi
# 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

Baal, on a stone stela from Ugarit, striding forward, carrying his lightning staff 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 ha´Aretz, 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 ´Aleyin, 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 ´El. Through a series of conflicts and competitions with other gods, Ba`al achieves a position subordinate only to ´El among gods. However, He defers to ´Asherah and often enlists Her favors when He must approach ´El. 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 ´El. 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 ´el-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 ´El, 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 Marpah´a, 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 ´El 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 ´El 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 ´El 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 ´El remains throughout the ultimate authority, whom Ba`al must petition for permission to build His palace. ´El 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.

From: here

Baal (also called Baal-Zephon(Saphon), Hadad, Pidar and Rapiu (Rapha?) - 'the shade')

The son of El, the god of fertility, 'rider of the clouds', and god of lightning and thunder. He is 'the Prince, the lord of earth', 'the mightiest of warriors', 'lord of the sky and the earth' (Alalakh). He has a palace on Mt. Zephon. He has a feud with Yam. His voice is thunder, his ship is a snow bearing cloud. He is known as Rapiu during his summer stay in the underworld.

He upbraids the gods for their cowardice when they intend to hand him over to Yam's messengers and attacks them but is restrained by Athtart and Anat. Kothar-and-Khasis gives him the magic weapons Yagrush (Chaser) and Aymur (Driver). He strikes Yam in chest and in the forehead, knocking him out. Athtart rebukes Baal and calls on him to 'scatter' his captive, which he does. In a alternate version of this episode, he slays Lotan (Leviathan), the seven-headed dragon. The battle may have been representative of rough winter sea-storms which calmed in the spring and which were preceded and accompanied by autumn rains which ended summer droughts and enabled crops to grow.

After his victory he holds a feast and remarks on his lack of a proper palace, instead retaining residence with El and Athirat. He sends messengers to Anat to ask her to perform a peace-offering that he might tell her the word which is the power of lightning and seek lightning on the holy Mt Zephon. She does so and he welcomes her. Hearing his complaints Anat leaves to petition El for a new palace for Baal. Rejected, Baal dispatches Qodesh-and-Amrur to Kothar-and-Khasis with a request to make a silver temple set with which to bribe Athirat. He and Anat view Athirat with trepidation keeping in mind past insults which he has suffered at the hands of the other gods. He and Anat ask Athirat to ask El for permission to build a more extravagant house and Athirat's request is granted. Gathering cedar, gold, silver, gems, and lapis at Mt. Zephon, he calls Kothar-and-Khasis, feeding him and instructing him on how to build the palace. He doesn't want a window, for fear of Yam breaking through or his daughters escaping, but Kothar-and-Khasis convinces him to allow its inclusion so that he might lightning, thunder, and rain through it.

At its completion he holds a feast, takes over scores of towns and allows the window to be built. He threatens to ask Mot to invite any of Baal's remaining enemies to come for a visit and at night, binds the lightning, snow and rains. He sends Gupn and Ugar to Mot to invite him to acknowledge his sovereignty at his new palace. He sends messengers to Mot to carry this message to him and they return with a message of such weight that Baal declares himself Mot's slave. He hopes to ameliorate Mot by having Sheger and Ithm supply live sheep and cattle for the god to feast upon. Fearing Mot he seeks Shapshu's advice and sires a substitute on a cow. He (or possibly his substitute) dies and remains in the underworld for seven years. El dreams that he is alive again but he is absent. Ashtar attempts to take Baal's place, but can not. Shapshu searches for him. Baal returns and fights Mot's allies, the sons of Athirat and the yellow ones. After seven years, Mot returns, demanding one of Baal's brothers lest he consume mankind. Baal rebuffs him and they fight tooth and nail. Shapshu separates the two declaring that Baal has El's favor and Baal resumes his throne.

You're missing a relief of Baal.
As Baal-Hadad, he sends monstrous creatures to attack the handmaidens of Yarikh, and of Athirat of the Sea. He hunts the horned, buffalo-humped creatures which were birthed by the handmaidens at the advice of El. During the hunt he is stuck in a bog for seven years and things fall to pot. His kin recover him and there is much rejoicing.

Once when he was out hunting, Anat followed him. He spotted her, fell in love and copulated with her in the form of a cow. She gave birth to 'a wild ox' or a 'buffalo', telling him of the event on Mt. Zephon. This is probably not their only affair. (See also Theology 100 Online Glossary - Baal, Encyclopedia Mystica - Baal)

Gapn (vine)
Baal's page and messenger to both Anat and Mot.
Radmanu (Pradmanu)
a minor servitor of Baal.
Ugar (cultivated field?)
Baal's other page and messenger to both Anat and Mot. He is possibly the patron city-god of Ugarit.
Pidray 'daughter of the mist','daughter of light(ning)'
Baal's daughter. She is sometimes a love interest of Athtar.
Tallay ='she of dew', 'daughter of drizzle'
Baal's daughter.
Arsay = 'she of the earth', 'daughter of [ample flows]'
Baal's daughter.
Ybrdmy
Baal's daughter.

From: here

The antiquity of the worship of the god or gods of Baal extends back to the 14th century BCE among the ancient Semitic peoples, the descendants of Shem, the oldest son of Biblical Noah. Semitic is more of a linguistic classification than a racial one. Thus, people speaking the same or similar languages first worshiped Baal in his many forms. The word Baal means "master" or "owner". In ancient religions the name denoted sun, lord or god. Baal was common a name of small Syrian and Persian deities. Baal is still principally thought of as a Canaanite fertility deity. The Great Baal was of Canaan. He was the son of El, the high god of Canaan. The cult of Baal celebrated annually his death and resurrection as a part of the Canaanite fertility rituals. These ceremonies often included human sacrifice and temple prostitution.

Baal, literal meaning is "lord," in the Canaanite pantheon was the local title of fertility gods. Baal never emerged as a rain god until later times when he assumed the special functions of each. Although there is no equivalent in Canaan of the sterile summer drought that occurs in Mesopotamia, the season cycle was marked enough to have caused a concentration on the disappearing fertility god, who took with him the autumn rain clouds into the neither world.

After defeating the sea god Yam, and building a house on Mount Saphon, and taking possession of numerous cities, Baal announced that he would no longer acknowledge the authority of Mot, "death." Baal not only excluded Mot from his hospitality and friendship, but also told him that he could only visit the deserts of the earth. In response to this challenge, Mot invited Baal to his abode to taste his fare, mud. Being terrified and unable to avoid the dreadful summons to the land of the dead, Baal coupled with a calf in order to strengthen himself for the ordeal, and then set out. El and the other gods donned funeral garments, poured ashes on their heads, and mutilated their limbs, while Anat, aided by the sun goddess Shapash, brought the corpse back for burial. El placed Athtar, the irrigation god, on the vacant throne of Baal, but Anat bitterly missed her dead husband. She begged Mot to restore Baal to life, but her pleas went without avail, and Anat's attempts to interest the other gods in helping her were met with cautious indifference. Thus, Anat assaulted Mot, ripping him to pieces "with a sharp knife," scattering his members "with a winnowing fan," burning him "in a fire," grinding him "in a mill," and "over the fields strewing his remains." El, in the meantime, had a dream in which fertility returned, which suggested that Baal was not dead. Afterwards, he instructed Shapash to keep watch for him during her daily travels. In the due course of time Baal was restored, and Athtar fled from his throne. Yet Mot was able to arrange another attack, but on this occasion all of the gods supported Baal, and neither combatant could gain the victory. Finally El intervened and dismissed Mot, leaving Baal in possession of the field.

The above myth, fragments of which are on the Ras Shamra tablets, relates to the alteration of the seasons. Baal is the god of rain, thunder, and lightening. "At the touch of his right hand, even colors wilt." Yam, the owner of salt water, gave place to Baal as the genius of rainfall and vegetation, a displacement that left Mot as sole contender under the mighty El. Torrid heat, sterility, the arid desert, death, the neither world: these were Mot's irresistible realm till Anat threshed, winnowed, and ground the harvested corn, the fecundity of Baal's land, just as the siding of El with the resurrected rain god ensured the continuation of the annual cycle. A parallel of the magical rites can be found in Psalms, where "they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that go forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bearing sheaves with him." This is sympathetic magic the tears shed were expected to induce drops of rain.

Baal was the son of El, or Dagon, an obscure deity linked by the Hebrews with the Philistine city of Ashdod. Dagon was perhaps associated with the sea, as a coin found in the vicinity portrays a god having a fish tail. Although Baal personally overcame Yam, it is uncertain whether or not he fought Lotan, the Leviathan of the Old Testament, but it is known that Anat "crushed the writhing serpent, the accused one of the seven heads." Another echo of the Mesopotamian thought patterns are nestled in these reasons advanced by Baal for needing a "house." His food offerings were too meager for a god "that rides on the clouds." As far apart as Carthage and Palmyra were temples dedicated to Baal-Hammon, "the lord of the altar of incense," whom the Greeks identified with Cronos. On Mount Carmel it was the prophet Elijah who discredited King Ahab's belief in the power of Baal, when at his request "the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice," and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. Afterwards Elijah had the people slay "the prophets of Baal," thereby assuring the survival of the worship of Yahweh in Israel.

The worship of Baal extended from the Canaanites to the Phoenicians who also were partially an agricultural people. Both Baal and his cohort Ashtoreth, or Astarte, who is equivalent to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, were both Phoenician fertility symbols. Baal, the sun god, was fervently prayed to for the protection of livestock and crops. Priests instructed the people that Baal was responsible for droughts, plagues, and other calamities. People were often worked up into great frenzies at the prospects of displeasing Baal. In times of great turbulence human sacrifices, particularly children, were made to the great god Moloch.

Since the Phoenicians also were superb ship builders the religion and cults of Baal spread throughout the Mediterranean world. The worship of Baal was found among the Moabites and their allies Midinites during Moses' time. It was also introduced to the Israelites.

The religion of the god Baal was widely accepted among the ancient Jews, and although it was put down at times, it was never permanently stamped out. Kings and other royalty of the ten Biblical tribes worshiped the god. The ordinary people ardently worshipped this sun god too because their prosperity depended on the productivity of their crops and livestock. The god's images were erected on many buildings. Within the religion there appeared to be numerous priests and various classes of devotees. During the ceremonies they wore appropriate robes. The ceremonies included burning incense, and offering burnt sacrifices, occasionally consisting of human victims. The officiating priests danced around the altars, chanting frantically and cutting themselves with knives to inspire the attention and compassion of the god.

In the Bible Baal is also called Beelzebub, or Baalzebub, one of the fallen angels of Satan.

From: here

Other sites:
Baal, God of Thunder
Wikipedia
Baal.com --website devoted to the god, with info.
Baal
Ba'al