In the late 1920's a Syrian farmer plowing
a field on a hill turned up a strange clay tablet. A French archaeological
team went to investigate. In 1928, that hill, behind Ras Shamra, a sleepy
north Syrian port town, was discovered to be a tel, a mound that was actually
the site of an ancient city. Within it were the ruins of Ugarit, a major
Bronze Age Canaanite city, including a large palace and two temples. Many
clay tablets were found during the course of the dig, including a number
within the Chief Priest's quarters.
The tablets were in cuneiform, but examination
revealed that although the shapes of the characters were familiar, they
were unrelated to the familiar cuneiforms of Sumer and Akkad. Rather than
the usual thousands, there were only 28 characters. Here was evidence of
the first alphabet. A relationship between this character set and Hebrew
allowed the French team, led by Charles Virolleaud, to make early tentative
translations between 1930-1933.
This discovery has had a major effect on the
study of the Ancient Near East. Refinements have been in the translations
during the succeeding 65 years, and current scholars involve linguistic
knowledge of Arabic to augment their work. The information in the various
tablets has spread beyond the field of archaeology, changing the face of
history, religion, and mythology. Whereas previously knowledge of the Pagan
religions of the region was limited to a few untrustworthy references in
Greek and Roman writing, and, the biased accounts in the Torah/ Bible and
the negative writings of early religious writers of Judaism and Christianity.
The important deities El, Athirat/ Asherah,
Ba'al, and Anat emerge, assisted by other deities such as the sun goddess
Shapash, the magician-craftsman Kothar-wa-Khasis, who were up to this time
poorly known or unknown. Prior knowledge has been expanded and the influence
of Canaanite religion and mythology on surrounding cultures, including the
Egyptians, Hittites, and Greeks, and in Judaism, is much more apparent, as
is the influence of these other cultures and those of Mesopotamia on the Canaanites.
Seven tablets, written on both sides, five
columns per side, contain the story of the Myth of Ba'al . Unfortunately
several were badly damaged during there almost 3200 years in the ground,
so parts of the story is unclear. The language is quite vivid. Scholars
now see that the writing style of the Torah is a continuity of that of the
Canaanites, and certain expressions and descriptions are virtually identical,
while some Canaanite Pagan vignettes (a running
ornament (as of vine leaves, tendrils, and grapes) put on or just before
a title page or at the beginning or end of a chapter) have been
rewritten in the Bible to support the newer religion. The language describing
the deity YHWH shows that many of his characteristics are a combination of
the Canaanite El and Ba'al
Beelzebub (also Baal-zebub,
Baalzebub, and Beelzebul) was an epithet (a
characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the
name of a person or thing) given to Baal, a god in the Canaanite
pantheon. Originally known as "Baal, the prince", Beelzebub was demonized
after contact with monotheistic Judaism, and he became known to them as
the Lord of the Flies. In contemporary Christianity, Beelzebub came to be
regarded as the leading representative of the fallen gods, referred to as
the Devil himself; in Matthew, 12, 24, he is mentioned as 'Prince of the
Devils'. All demonological accounts of Beelzebub place him high in Hell's
hierarchy.
It’s only as an oracle that the Beelzebub,
or Baalzebûb, the Philistine god of Accaron (Ekron), is known to us in the Old Testament.
In the New Testament, there is question of
an evil spirit, Beelzeboul. On account of the similarity of names, he is
usually identified with Baalzebub, beel being the Aramaic form of baal,
and the change from the final b to l such as might easily occur. But there
were numberless names for demons at that time, and this one may have been
newly invented, having no relation to the other; the fact that one element
of the compound is Aramaic and the other Hebrew would not disprove this.
During the European Middle Age Beelzebub and
the original Baal (also turned into a demon)
were separated into two different demons.
Baal, Baalim (Hebrew
Bá'ál; plural, Be`alîm.) is a word which belongs
to the oldest stock of the Semite vocabulary and primarily means "lord",
"owner" or "inhabitant". It would be supposed by the Jews of this time
to refer to the nether regions, and so be an appropriate name for the prince
of that realm. In accordance with the Semitic perspective on family
and religious relations, the word is specially appropriated to express the
relation of a husband to his wife and of the deity to his worshipper. In
the latter usage it indicated not that the god was the lord of the worshipper,
but rather the possessor of, or ruler in, some place or district. In the
Old Testament it is regularly written with the article, i.e. "the Baal";
and the Baals of different tribes or sanctuaries were not necessarily conceived
as identical, so that we find frequent mention of Baalim, or rather "the
Baalim" in the plural.
Inscriptions afford scores of evidence of the
word being similarly used in the other Semitic languages. In the Hebrew
Bible, the plural, be`alîm, is found with the various meanings of the
singular; whereas in ancient and modern translations it is used only as
a referring deities.
BAAL THE CANAANITE GOD
Baal was a ‘nature’ god of the Canaanites,
he was the son of El, the high god of Canaan. The main part of our knowledge
of Baal and the mythology surrounding this god comes from the cuneiform writings
in Ugaritic. Before this discovery, the character of Baal was almost entirely
unknown to us.
The original name of Baal was Hadad, but he
was soon to be known as Baal in the meaning named above. In Ugaritic his
name was Haddu.
Baal was said to live on the mountain Sapan,
which probably means "north" or simply "the mountain of the gods". The
Hebrew word "safon" means "north".
Baal repeatedly battles two lower gods: Mot,
the god of death, and Yamm, the god of the sea. Yamm often takes the shape
of a many-headed sea-dragon named Leviathan (a
large sea animal), which also appears in the Old Testament. This
is regarded as one of the most obvious influences of Canaanite religion
on the Hebrew Tanach. In the Mediterranean area, the crop fields were often
threatened by winds, storms and floods from the sea, which gives a plausible
reason to why this mythology developed.
BAAL AS A DEITY
When applied to a deity, the word Baal retained
its connotation of ownership, and was, therefore, usually qualified. The
documents speak, for instance, of the Baal of Tyre, of Harran, of Tarsus,
of Herman, of Lebanon of Tamar (a river south of Beirut),
of heaven. Among all the Semites, the word, under one form or another (Bá`ál in the West and South; Bel in Assyria;
Bal, Bol, or Bel im Palmyra) constantly recurs to express the deity's
lordship over the world or some part of it. The Baals -- of different tribes,
places, sanctuaries – not necessarily conceived as identical; each one might
have his own nature and his own name; the partly fish shaped Baal of Arvad
was probably Dagon; the Baal of Lebanon, possible Cid "the hunter"; the
Baal of Harran, the moongod; whereas in several Sabean Minaean cities, and
in many Chanaanite, Phoenician, or Palmyrene shrines, the sun was the Baal
worshipped, although Hadad seems to have been the chief Baal among the Syrians.
The diversity of the Old Testament makes known by speaking of Baalim, in
the plural, and specifying the singular Baal either by the article or by
the addition of another word.
BAAL-WORSHIP AMONG THE GENTILES
The Baal-worship so often alluded to and described
in ancient writings might be better styled, Çid-worship, moon-worship,
Melek (Moloch)-worship, or Hadad-worship, according
to places and circumstances. Many of the practices mentioned were most probable
common to the worship of all the Baals.
A custom common among Semites should be noticed
here. Moved, most likely, by the desire to secure the protection of the
local Baal for their children, the Semites always showed a preference for
names compounded with that of the deity; those of Hasdrubal (`Azrû Bá`ál), Hannibal (Hanni Bá`ál), Baltasar, or Belshazzar
(Bel-sar-Ushshur), have become famous in history.
Scores of such names belonging to different nationalities are recorded
in the Bible, and in ancient writers, and in inscriptions.
The worship of Baal was performed in the sacred
precincts (a part of a territory with definite
bounds or functions often established for administrative purposes)of
the high places so numerous throughout the country or in temples like those
of Samaria and Jerusalem, even on the terraced roofs of the houses. The
furniture of these sanctuaries probably varied with the Baals honoured there.
Near the altar, which existed everywhere, might be found, according
to the particular place, either an image of the deity (Hadad was symbolized by a calf), or the bætylion
(i.e. sacred stone, regularly cone-shaped in Canaan)
supposed to have been originally intended to represent the world,
abode of the god; of the hammanim (very possible sun
pillars.), and asherah, a sacred pole, possibly a tree. The original
signification is far from clear, together with votive (consisting of or expressing a vow, wish, or desire
offered or performed in fulfillment of a vow or in gratitude or devotion)
or commemorative stelae (usually carved or inscribed
stone slab or pillar used for commemorative purposes )(máççebhôth,
usually mistranslated images), more or less ornamented. There incense
and perfumes were burned, libations poured and sacrifices of oxen and other
animals offered up to the Baal; even children of both sexes were not infrequently
burned in sacrifice to Melek , and young princes were occasionally chosen
as victims to this stern deity. In several shrines long trains of priests,
distributed into several classes and clad in special attire performed the
sacred function; they prayed, shouted to the Baal, led dances around the
altar, and in their frenzied excitement cut themselves with knives and lancets,
till they were all covered with blood. In the meantime the lay worshippers
also prayed, kneeling, and paid their homage by kissing the images or symbols
of the Baal, or even their own hands. To this should be added the immoral
practices indulged in at several shrines in honour of the Baal as male of
reproduction, and of his mate Asherah. (Astarte (Babylon's Ishtar, Sumer's Inanna), love goddess of the Phoenicians, is named in the Bible
Ashtoreth, combining the consonants from Astarte and the vowels from boshet,
Hebrew "shame." She was also known and worshipped in Judah as the Queen of
Heaven. Among others King Solomon, "went after Ashtoreth" (1 Kings 11:5).
In the Bible the plural form, Ashtaroth, is more frequently used, to cover
pagan goddesses generally.)
BAAL WORSHIP-AMONG THE ISRAELITES
The Israelites, coming forth from the wilderness,
were brought into contact with the Baal-worshippers, than they were, through
the guile of the Madianites, and the attractions of the worship offered
to the Moabitish deity (probably Chamos), easily
seduced from their allegiance to Yahweh..
After the division of Solomon’s empire, the
Northern Kingdom, led by its rulers, sank into the Canaanite superstitions.
This was easy because certain customs brought about confusion in the clouded
minds of the uneducated portion of the people. Names like Esbaal , Meribbaal
, Baaliada given by Saul, Johnathen, and David to their sons, suggest that
Yahweh was possibly spoken of as Baal. The fact has been disputed; but the
existence of such a name as Baalia ( i.e. "Yahweh is
Baal", I Par., xii, 5) and the affirmation of Osee (ii, 16) are arguments that cannot be slighted.
BAAL AND YAHWEH
That the Israelites even applied the title
of Baal to Yahweh himself is proved by the occurrence of such names as
Jerubbaal (Gideon), Eshbaal (one of Saul's sons) and Beeliada (a son of David). The last name also appears as
Eliada, showing that El (God) was regarded as equivalent to Baal; also
the name Be’aliah, "Yahweh is baal" (or lord),
which survives in I Chron. 12:5. However, when the name Baal was exclusively
appropriated to idolatrous worship, abhorrence for the unholy word was
marked by writing bosheth (shameful thing)
for baal in compound proper names, and thus we get the usual forms Ishbosheth,
Mephibosheth (St. John Chrysostom Homilies on the Acts
of the Apostles).
The great difficulty which has been felt by
investigators in determining the character and attributes of the god Baal
mainly arises from the original appellative (of
or relating to a common noun) sense of the word, and many
obscure points become clear if we remember that when a title becomes a proper
name it may be appropriated by different peoples to quite distinct deities.
Baal being originally a title, and not a proper name, the innumerable baals
could be distinguished by the addition of the name of a place or of some
special attribute. Accordingly, the Baals are not to be regarded necessarily
as local variations of one and the same god, like the many Virgins or Madonnas
of Catholic lands, but as distinct numina. (a spiritual
force or influence often identified with a natural object, phenomenon,
or place).
Each community could speak of its own Baal, although a collection of
allied communities might share the same cult, and since the attributes ascribed
to the individual Baals were very similar, subsequent use of combination
of different forms of belief or practice was facilitated.
The Baal, as the head of each worshipping group,
is the source of all the gifts of nature.. Joined with the baals there are
naturally found corresponding female figures known as Ashtaroth, embodiments
of Ashtoreth. (see above)
In accordance with primitive notions of analogy,
which assume that it is possible to control or aid the powers of nature
by the practice of sympathetic magic (magic based
on the assumption that a person or thing can be supernaturally affected
through its name or an object representing it), the cult of the
baals and Ashtaroth was characterized by gross sensuality and licentiousness
(lacking legal or moral restraints; especially :
disregarding sexual restraints). The fragmentary allusions to
the cult of Baal Peor in the Bible exemplify the typical species of Dionysiac
orgies Rethinking 1 Corn. 11:2-16 that prevailed. On the summits
of hills and mountains flourished the cult of the givers of increase, and
"under every green tree" was practiced the licentiousness which in primitive
thought was held to secure abundance of crops. Human sacrifice, the burning
of incense, violent and ecstatic exercises, ceremonial acts of bowing and
kissing, the preparing of sacred mystic cakes appear among the offences
denounced by the Israelite prophets; and show that the cult of Baal (and Astarte) included the characteristic features
of Heathen worship which recur in various parts of the Semitic world, although
attached to other names.
By an easy transition the local gods of the
streams and springs which fertilized the increase of the fields became identified
with the common source of all streams, and proceeding along this line it
was possible for the numerous Baals to be regarded eventually as mere forms
of one absolute deity. Consequently, the Baal could be identified with some
supreme power of nature, e.g. the heavens, the sun, the weather or some
planet. The particular line of development would vary in different places,
but the change from an association of the Baal with earthly objects to heavenly
is characteristic of a higher type of belief and appears to be relatively
later.
A specific Baal of the heavens appears to have
been known among the Hittites in the time of Rameses II, and considerably
later, at the beginning of the 7th century, it was the title of one of
the gods of Phoenicia. In Babylonia, from a very early period, Baal became
a definite individual deity, and was identified with the planet Jupiter.
This may have been spread through Babylonian influence. Both Baal and Astarte
were venerated (to honor (as an icon or a relic)
with a ritual act of devotion ) in Egypt at Thebes and Memphis
in the nineteenth Dynasty, and the former, through the influence of the Aramaeans
who borrowed the Babylonian spelling Bel, ultimately became known as the
Greek Belos who was identified with Zeus.
The history of Baalism among the Hebrews is
obscured (to conceal or hide by or as if by covering)
by the difficulty of determining whether the false worship which the prophets
stigmatize is the heathen worship of Yahweh under a conception (the capacity, function, or process of forming or understanding
ideas or abstractions or their symbols), and often with rites,
which treated him as a local nature god; or whether Baalism was consciously
recognized to be distinct (a clear unmistakable
impression) from Yahwism from the first. Later religious practice
was undoubtedly opposed to that of earlier times, and attempts were made
to correct narratives containing views which had come to be regarded as contrary
to the true worship of Yahweh.
The Old Testament depicts the history of the people as a series of acts
of apostasy alternating with subsequent penitence and return to Yahweh,
and the question whether this gives effect to actual conditions depends
upon the precise character of the elements of Yahweh worship brought by the
Israelites into Palestine. This is still under dispute. There is evidence
showing events that many of the conceptions are contrary to historical fact,
and the points of similarity between native Canaanite cult and Israelite
worship are so striking that only the persistent traditions of Israel's origin
and of the work of Moses compel the conclusion that the specifics of Yahweh
worship existed from his day.
The earliest certain reaction against Baalism
is ascribed to the reign of Ahab, whose marriage with Jezebel gave the impulse
to the introduction of a particular form of the cult. In honour of his
wife's god, the king, following the example of Solomon, erected a temple
to the Tyrian Baal (Melkart). This, however,
did not prevent him from remaining a follower of Yahweh, whose prophets he
still consulted, and whose protection he still cherished when he named his
Sons Ahaziah and Jehoram ("Yahweh holds", "Yahweh is
high"). The antagonism of Elijah was not against Baalism in general,
but against the introduction of a rival deity.
By the time of Hosea, the use of the term "Baal"
was felt to be dangerous to true religion. Thus there gradually grew up
a tendency to avoid the term, and in accordance with the idea of Exodus 23:13,
it was replaced by the contemptuous basheth, "shame" (see above). However, the books of Deuteronomy and
Jeremiah show testimony for the use of Baalism as late as the exile, and
show that the clearest distinction was then drawn between the pure worship
of Yahweh the god of Israel and the cults of the gods of the land.
In conclusion
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. Semitic is more of a linguistic
classification than a racial one. Thus, people speaking the same or similar
languages first worshipped Baal in his many forms.
The word Baal means "master" or "owner". In
ancient religions the name denoted sun, lord or god.
Baal was a common name of small Syrian and
Persian deities. Baal is still principally thought of as a Canaanite fertility
deity. Baal 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.
The worship of Baal extended from the Canaanites
to the Phoenicians.
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.
