Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

42 Baal Malagesaid to have gained his kingship in primeval timeswrested, with the help of weapons made by divinecraftsmen (see also OTHIN), from the powers ofchaos in the form of the sea and the river tyrannies,or more specifically the god Yamm.Baal lives in a vast and opulent palace on amountain called Šapan. Old connotations of aweather god remain in the texts which describethe voice of Baal as being like thunder, and a holein the floor of his palace through which he watersthe earth. According to one text his servants arein the form of seven pages and eight boars, all ofwhich, like his daughters, PIDRAY daughter ofmist and Tallay daughter of showers, probablyhave a fertility function. Sister of the goddessAnat, he reflects the confrontation theme, firstestablished in ancient Near Eastern religions, ofa god constantly and energetically engaged withthe forces of disorder. It is a combat that causeshis temporary ill-fortune but from which, annually,he emerges triumphant. Baal is said to havesired a bull calf, the guarantee of his power inabsence, before descending to the underworld tochallenge the forces of chaos in the form of thegod Mot (see also INANA/IŠTAR); he dies, isrestored through the efforts of Anat and in theseventh year kills Mot (VT Exodus 23.10-11describes six years of harvest followed by a seventhyear in which the land must lie fallow). Victorywas celebrated at the autumn festival of NewYear in the month of Tišri pending the arrival ofthe rains. Baal-zebul (VT) derives from Baal andzbl meaning prince.From the mid-sixteenth century BC in theEgyptian New Kingdom, Baal enjoyed a significantcult following, but the legend of his demiseand restoration was never equated with that ofOSIRIS.In the Greco-Roman period, Baal becameassimilated in the Palestine region with ZEUS andJUPITER, but as a Punic deity [Carthage] he wasallied with SATURNUS, the god of seed-sowing.Baal MalageLocal tutelary god. Western Semitic (Phoenician).Probably of Canaanite origin, closely equating withBAAL ŠAMIN and known only from inscriptions.Baal Šamin (lord of heaven)Head of the pantheon. Western Semitic (Phoenician).Probably originated in Canaanite culture asa god of rain and vegetation, but became extensivelyrevered in places as far apart as Cyprus andCarthage. Epithets include “bearer of thunder.”Baal Šamin is first mentioned in a fourteenth centuryBC treaty between the Hittite king Suppiluliumaand Nigmadu II of Ugarit. He had a majorsanctuary at Byblos, according to inscription, “builtby Yehemilk.” Josephus confirms that his cultexisted at the time of Solomon. At Karatepe hisname appears at the head of a list of national deitiesand on Seleucid coinage he is depicted wearing ahalf-moon crown and carrying a radiate sun disc.Other epithets include “lord of eternity” and hemay also have been god of storms at sea, a patrondeity of mariners. By Hellenic times he equatedwith ZEUS in the Greek pantheon and the Romansidentified him as Caelus (sky). Also Baal-Šamem.Baal SaponLocal tutelary god. Western Semitic (Phoenician).Probably of Canaanite origin and closely equatingwith BAAL ŠAMIN. According to Ugaritic texts helives on a mountain in the north of Phoeniciaknown as Saphan, which may have served as a beaconfor mariners. Other local variations of mountaindeities include Baal Hermon and Baal Brathy.BabaFertility goddess. Mesopotamian (Sumerian andBabylonian-Akkadian). Locally worshiped inLagaš, where Gudea built her a temple. Also Bau.