#dagan deity

[sag-dab-sar]

Deity Dagan

Originally a god of West Semitic speakers from the Levant, but worshipped widely throughout the Near East, including Mesopotamia.

Deity of grain, as well as its cultivation and storage. Indeed, the common word for "grain" in Ugaritic and Hebrew is dagan. According to one Sumerian tradition and to the much later Philo of Byblos, Dagan invented the plow. In the north, he was sometimes identified with Adad. Thus, he may have had some of the characteristics of a storm god. In one tradition his wife was Ishara, in another Salas, usually wife of Adad. Salas was originally a goddess of the Hurrians. Dagan also had netherworld connections. According to an Assyrian composition, he was a judge of the dead in the lower world, serving with Nergal and Misa-ru(m), the god of justice. A tradition going back at least to the fourth century BCE identified Dagan as a fish god, but it is almost certainly incorrect, presumably having been based upon a false etymology that interpreted the element "Dag" in Dagan as deriving from the Hebrew word dag "fish."

The earliest mentions of him come from texts that indicate that, in Early Dynastic times, Dagan was worshipped at Ebla. Dagan was taken into the Sumerian pantheon quite early as a minor god in the circle of Enlil at Nip-pur. Kings of the Old Akkadian peri-od, including Sargon and Narām-Sin, credited much of their success as conquerors to Dagan. Sargon recorded that he "prostrated (himself in prayer before Dagan in Tutul [sic]" (Oppen-heim, ANET: 268). At the same time, he gave to the god a large area of the country he had just conquered, including Mari, Ebla, and larmuti in western Syria. A number of letters from the Mari archives, dated mainly to the reign of Zimri-Lim, record that Dagãn was a source of divine revela-tion. The letters reported prophetic dreams, a number of which came from Dagan, conveyed by his prophets and ecstatics. In his law code, Hammu-rapi credits Dagan with helping him subdue settlements along the Euphrates.

The Assyrian king Samsi-Adad I commissioned a temple for him at Terqa, upstream from Mari, where funeral rites for the Mari Dynasty took place.

In the Old Babylonian period, kings of the Amorites erected temples for Dagan at Isin and Ur. In the Anzû(m) myth, Dagan was favorably coupled with Anu(m). At Ugarit Dagan was closely associated with, if not equated to, the supreme god El/I(u). Although he is mentioned in the mythic compositions of Ugarit as the father of the storm god Ba'lu/ Had(d)ad, Dagan plays only a very minor role. His popularity is indicated by his importance in offering and god lists, one of which places him third, after the two chief gods and before the active and powerful god Ba'lu/ Had(d)ad. Dagan is attested in Ugaritic theophoric names. In Ugaritic texts the god is often referred to as "Dagan of Tuttul." It might also be the case that one of the two major temples of the city of Ugarit was dedicated to him, and he might there have been identified with the chief god I(u) / El.

Festivals for Dagãn took place at Ter-ga and Tuttul, both of which were cult centers of the god. He was certainly worshipped at Ebla and also at Mari.

At Mari, in Old Babylonian times, he appears as fourth deity on a god list; that is, he was very important. He was venerated also at Emar. There a "Sacred Marriage" ritual between Dagan and the goddess Nin-kur was celebrated.

At the same city, a festival was held in honor of "Dagan-Lord-of-the-Cattle," at which the herds of cattle and prob. ably sheep were blessed.

According to the Hebrew Bible, Dagan was the national god of the Philistines. I Samuel:5-6 tells of the capture of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines. It was customary in the Ancient Near East for the conquerors to carry off the deity statues of the conquered to mark the surrender not only of the people, but also of their deities.

So the Philistines took the Ark, the symbol of the god of the Israelites, into the temple of Dagan at Ashdod. Since the Israelites had no statues of their deity, the much revered Ark was an obvious substitute. In this way, the Philistines marked the submission of the Israelite god to Dagan. However, on the next day, the people of Ashdod found the statue of Dagan lying face down in front of the Ark. The following day the same thing happened except that the head and hands of Dagan's statue lay broken on the temple threshold. This biblical account seems to be an etiology for a practice of the priests of the temple of Dagan at Ashdod, for it states that for this reason it is the custom of the priests of Dagan not to tread on the threshold as they enter the temple of Dagan. The best-known of the biblical stories that mention Dagan is in Judges 16, the tale of Samson and Delilah. After Delilah arranged for the Philistines of Gaza to capture Samson, they blinded him, shackled him, and made him a slave at a mill. During a festival to Dagan, the Philistines took Samson to be exhibited in Dagan's temple, where thou sands of Philistines had gathered for the celebrations. After praying to the Israelite god, the now long haired Samson got back his old strength. By pushing against two central pillars, he brought the temple crashing down on himself and on more Philistines than he had killed in his whole lifetime of killing Philistines.

— From a Handbook to Ancient Near Eastern Gods & Goddesses by Frayne & Stuckey page 67-69

[nogetron]

Dagan, the ancient Syrian creator god. The great father of the gods and creator of prosperity. Almost nothing is concretely known about Dagan, it can be assumed however that he was the Primordial originator of Syrian mythology. His wives were Shalash and Ishara. He granted abundance in harvests and was associated with grain. His son was the storm god Hadad.

Dagan is believed to have been the Syrian descendant of the Semitic El, with both having almost identical properties. Dagan’s son Hadad is in all intents and purposes is essentially Baal, this connection being so strong that Baal was also spoken to be Dagan’s son in Canaan, bringing the worship of Dagan to the Canaanites. Dagan’s wives could be a mirror of El’s wives: Asherah and Rahmayyu. After Syria was conquered by the Mesopotamians, Dagan was introduced to the Mesopotamian pantheon. The Mesopotamians took greatly to Dagan, even more so than the Canaanites, both inducting him into the pantheon as well as synchronizing him with their deities, that of Enlil and later Marduk. The Mesopotamians also compared Dagan to the Hurrian Kumarbi. Dagan’s worship eventually faded, and with the demonization he received from another descendant of El; the Abrahamic god, he was rendered into the forgotten demon Dagon.

Broken form

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

The Lion of Mari, from Syria (Mesopotamia) c.1782-1759 BCE: this is one of two lion statues that once guarded the entrance to a temple in ancient Mari; the lions were partially crushed when Hammurabi laid waste to the city in 1759 BCE

That's a pretty fitting expression, given the circumstances

Together, the two lion statues that were found at the ruined temple are known as the "Lions of Mari." They were unearthed from the ruins at Tell Hariri, where the ancient city-state of Mari once stood; this site is located near the border between modern-day Syria and Iraq.

The lions were likely designed as protomes, given their lack of hindquarters. They were originally stationed on either side of the entrance to the temple, so they are often described as the "temple guardians."

This is the same statue that appears in the first three photos, just seen from a different angle

It's believed that the temple at this site was originally built in honor of a West Semitic deity known as Dagan. Dagan was the chief deity of the Mariote pantheon; he was a particularly prominent figure in the middle and upper regions of the Euphrates, with cult centers in Mari, Terqa, Tuttul, and Ebla, but he was known throughout many parts of the ancient Near East.

The lion is primarily made of copper, with limestone and shale inlay for the eyes, and it measures 53cm tall, 77.5cm long, and 43cm wide, weighing roughly 55kg (about 21in x 30.5in x 17in, with a weight of 121lbs)

The Lions of Mari were partially crushed when their temple was destroyed (along with the rest of Mari) by Hammurabi's forces in 1759 BCE, leaving the statues badly warped...which is why they look really upset.

It's hard to find high-quality photos of the second lion, but he does have a particularly distinctive appearance:

This second lion was most recently housed at the National Museum of Aleppo, in Syria, though its current location/status (in the aftermath of the Syrian Civil War) remains unclear.

These photographs were taken during the original excavations at the ruined temple; they depict the first lion statue as it was still being unearthed (top) and the second statue shortly after it was removed (bottom)

Sources & More Info:

The Louvre: Lion of Mari

Archeologie.culture.fr: Lion Protome

Archeologie.culture.fr: Detailed Information about Ancient Mari

Virtual Museum Syria: Lion Sculpture

[tsalmu]

Reliefs of Gazelle/Goat, a Deity (Kumarbi? Dagan?), and a Stag

Reliefs of a Male Harpy, Merman, and Winged Antelope

Reliefs of a Winged Lion-Headed Man (Demon?) and a Griffin

Late Hittite

Tell Halaf, Syria

c. 900 BCE

Housed in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin

Source: https://www.hittitemonuments.com/

[yamayuandadu]

Ishkur, Baal, and others: a guide to the weather gods of Mesopotamia and ancient Syria

I received an ask recently which was difficult to answer in the conventional way: Is there any difference between Adad, Hadad, Ugaritic Baal, and Ishkur? What aspects would be specific to each? Was Dagan said to be the father of Ugaritic Baal or Hadad? Also, what sources would you recommend on the subject? After much consideration and multiple failed attempts to write a short response I decided to present the information in the form of a proper article. You can find it under the cut.

Recommended reading I’ll reverse the usual formula and start with literature recommendations. The most comprehensive treatment of this matter is quite literally a 1000+ pages long monograph, Daniel Schwemer’s Die Wettergottgestalten Mesopotamiens und Nordsyriens im Zeitalter der Keilschriftkulturen. Materialien und Studien nach den schriftlichen Quellen. It’s available for free, and remains reliable basically 99% of the time. I am aware reading hundreds of dense pages of academic German might be a bit much, but luckily the same author effectively wrote a two part abridged edition in English, The Storm-Gods of the Ancient Near East: Summary, Synthesis, Recent Studies. It is similarly available for free, see here for part 1 and here for part 2. Other literature which is worth checking out, and which I also utilized here, includes Lluís Feliu’s monograph The God Dagan in Bronze Age Syria and his article Two brides for two gods. The case of Šala and Šalaš; Alfonso Archi’s Hadda of Ḫalab and his Temple in the Ebla Period; and Shana Zaia’s Adad in Assyria: Royal Authority in the Neo-Assyrian Period. Furthermore, a new desertion which seems relevant was published recently, Albert Dietz’s Der Wettergott im Bild: diachrone Analyse eines altorientalischen Göttertypus im 3. und 2. Jahrtausend v. Chr., but I did not have the opportunity to read it yet. To properly answer the rest of the questions, the historical and environmental context of the worship of weather deities has to be addressed first. Ishkur in Mesopotamia in the Uruk and Early Dynastic periods At the dawn of recorded history, in lower Mesopotamia weather gods did not enjoy particular prominence. This has a lot to do with the environment - the importance of weather deities typically stems from reliance on rainfall in agriculture. As through a solid chunk of Mesopotamia irrigation mattered more, there was no real need for a major weather deity to arise. Canals were often handled by local tutelary gods, for example Shara in Umma. The oldest attested weather deity in Mesopotamia is Ishkur, who pretty clearly already worshiped in the Uruk period, but his importance was comparatively minor. His two main spheres of influence were seemingly providing water for land which was not irrigated (for example the steppe) and presiding over the destructive side of the weather - not just heavy rainfall, but also dust storms. Ishkur was also the main god of the city of Karkar, which has not yet been located with certainty, but presumably is to be found close to Adab on the banks of the Tigris. The fact that the logogram read as “storm” also represented this toponym in the Uruk period already is how it was possible to establish that the city was already a cult center of Ishkur at this time, and presumably earlier. The same logogram was also used to represent Ishkur’s name, for obvious reasons. However, the etymology of his proper name is unknown. It might be a Sumerian word which fell out of use before the start of recorded history otherwise, or it might come from a substrate language; this is ultimately irrelevant and has no real bearing on the tangible early history of this god. In addition to Karkar Ishkur was worshiped in nearby Adab and even further south in Lagash, but that’s about it for the earliest sources. Worth noting that for example in Ur there was virtually no cult of any weather deity until the late third millennium BCE, and even then, in the Ur III period it was of no interest to rulers. We also do not know much about the circle of deities associated with him. Based on later evidence it is presumed that his wife might have been the goddess Medimsha (“possessing beautiful limbs”), and god lists indicate his sukkal (attendant deity) was the deified lightning, Nimgir, but that’s about it. Adad ("Hadda") in early Syrian sources

The situation was diametrically different in upper Mesopotamia and across northern Syria. In these regions agriculture did depend on rainfall, which naturally meant weather gods were present in many local pantheons for as long as evidence is available. The best early sources we have are the texts from Ebla, which are roughly contemporary with the Early Dynastic sources mentioned in the previous paragraphs. The Eblaites evidently recognized Aleppo as the cult center of a weather god, who they referred to as Adad - or rather by a cognate of this name, which can be romanized as something like “Hadda” or "'Adda", but you get the point. It’s a derivative of the root *hdd, “to thunder”, which appears in some capacity in virtually every single language from the Semitic family. The Akkadian spelling, which is firmly Adad, seemingly reflects the weakening of the h present in Eblaite and later in a number of other languages (Ugaritic, Aramaic etc) into a glottal stop. Despite the root *hdd itself appearing in languages spoken as far south as Ethiopia, weather gods with names derived from it were seemingly initially basically restricted to northern Syria and upper Mesopotamia. Therefore, this is another piece of evidence indicating there is hardly such a thing as a “Semitic pantheon”; languages are not religions. It is not possible to tell when his cult was originally established, and claims linking any neolithic object with worship of weather gods require a healthy dose of skepticism. What is clear is that he was already well established by the third millennium BCE. Interestingly, despite Adad’s high status in the Eblaite pantheon, his original cult center, Aleppo, was hardly a political power in its own right in the third millennium BCE. In that regard he resembles many of the other major members of the local pantheon, like Hadabal (formerly read as Nidakul; no etymological relation to Adad or Baal) or Dagan, whose cult centers likewise did not form kingdoms in their own right .

A map of ancient Syria, showing the location of Ebla, Aleppo, Mari and other nearby cities (wikimedia commons)

All we can tell about the associations between Adad and other deities in the Ebla-Aleppo area is that he definitely had a wife, Halabatu, possibly to be understood as “she of Aleppo”. This name likely later morphed into better known Hebat. There’s no real evidence for a link between Adad and Dagan at this point in time, and Alfonso Archi went as far as arguing Dagan was not yet regarded as a senior, fatherly figure in the third millennium BCE, but this is ultimately speculative. Adad was also worshiped midway between Ebla and lower Mesopotamia, in Mari. Local scribes were the first people on record to associate him with Ishkur, and utilized the logographic writing of the latter’s name to represent the former. Curiously in Ebla this convention was entirely unknown, even though in other cases logograms borrowed from Mesopotamia did see some usage in a similar context. Adad and Ishkur in Mesopotamia through third and second millennia BCE In the Sargonic period Adad started to spread to new areas. He is well attested as far east as Gasur (later Nuzi) near modern Kirkuk. Since no comparable evidence is available for the Early Dynastic period, it can be safely assumed that he was restricted to western areas earlier. However, how exactly his cult entered the east and the south remains poorly understood. A major development for Adad in Mesopotamia was the merge between him and Ishkur. Presumably it started developing right as the southern scribal culture started to expand into areas where Adad was worshiped, like Mari. The details of this process are poorly known, but by the Ur III period Adad and Ishkur were effectively the same god in Mesopotamia. The worship of Adad was subsequently promoted by kings of the Isin and Larsa dynasties, and by the Old Babylonian period he was recognized as a major deity. He acquired some new roles, being invoked as a god of justice and divination - perhaps these offset the environmental factors responsible for Ishkur’s lack of popularity? However, many sources also indicate that even as a weather god he was recognized in a positive, rather than exclusively destructive role, acting as a bringer of abundance. He also came to be known as the "canal inspector of the gods", ie. as a god of irrigation. Adad's family in lower Mesopotamia

Frans Wiggermann's drawing of a seal impression showing a weather god and his spouse; reproduced here for educational purposes only. In lower Mesopotamia, the composite “Ishkur-Adad” kept a genealogy most likely originally developed with Ishkur in mind. His father was Anu, the sky god. The relationship between them is hardly explored in myths, though an Old Babylonian flood myth has a funny passage where, to cite Schwemer, “Adad (...) is to bring about a famine for humanity through lack of rainfall, and (...) then has to be guarded in heaven by Anu because of his corruptibility”. Alas, the audience presumably didn’t think that giving him the role of a failson was funny, and this element is absent from later flood myths. There is apparently only one source from the south which directly refers to Adad’s mother, and it places Urash in this role. This is hardly unexpected. My impression is that among online hobbyists Urash gets the least recognition of all three of Anu’s wives, but honestly prior to the “antiquarian theology” rising in late sources from Uruk, literally mere centuries before the death of cuneiform, she was -the- wife of Anu, with Ki bordering on being a non-personified concept and Antu hardly mattering. If a deity was defined as a child of Anu chances are very high Urash was the mother, basically. In the Old Babylonian period the southern version of Adad also gained a spouse, Shala, a fellow weather deity. This goddess must be categorically distinguished from Shalash known from earlier sources, who will be discussed later. We do not really know particularly well where she came from. Today the most common assumption is that her name is Hurrian and can be translated as “daughter”. This would point at origin in some part of Upper Mesopotamia. Lluis Feliu suggests that she might have originally been the spouse of the Hurrian weather god Teshub in a tradition perhaps centered on hitherto unidentified cities on the Tigris, though while plausible, this is ultimately purely speculative. Shala is very sparsely attested in Hurrian context, but to be fair most evidence we have comes from the west of the Hurrian sphere, and not from the east where she theoretically would be present. Mesopotamian god lists indicate that Shala was equated with Medimsha, presumably in a similar manner as Adad was with Ishkur. There is no independent evidence for Medimsha being Ishkur’s wife beyond texts which equate them with Adad and Shala, but the conclusion she held such a status even before the conflation is widely accepted, and I see no real reason to dispute it. Adad and Shala also had a number of children. The best attested ones are Misharu (“justice”), originally an independent god perhaps integrated into Adad’s circle because his name sounds similar to the akkadian word for wind, and Usur-amassu (“heed his - ie. Adad’s - word”). There isn’t much of a reason to discuss them in detail here since they were not weather deities; Usur-amassu is a fascinating figure though, and while initially male, they are mostly notable due to switching gender in the first millennium BCE as a new courtier of Inanna/Ishtar in Uruk, without losing the connection to her parents.

Western views on Adad’s genealogy and marital status While Shala was firmly the wife of the Mesopotamian Adad in Babylonia and Assyria, and Anu was equally firmly his father, the situation was different over in Aleppo and around it. As I mentioned before, the weather god of Aleppo already had a wife in the third millennium BCE, Halabatu. While many deities worshiped in Syria in the third millennium BCE later vanished, she remained a member of the local pantheon under the shortened name Hebat, and her position did not change. To my best knowledge the eastern limit for her recognition as the spouse of the weather god was Mari. The west is more complicated, though she pretty firmly appears in this role in Alalakh. The complex case of Ugarit will be discussed later. The different circles of associated deities make it pretty easy to separate Mesopotamian and western traditions. I would argue that a formal distinction between the Mesopotamian Adad and the “Aleppine” original is attested in the god list K 2100 (no catchier name for now), which lists “Ilhallabu”, “god of Aleppo”, among Adad’s foreign counterparts. Mari is somewhat of an oddity in that western and southern traditions pertaining to the weather god of Aleppo and the Mesopotamian Adad probably coexisted there. The Mariote kings recognized the weather god of Aleppo, but we also have some evidence that his peer from Karkar had some presence in the kingdom. For instance, Shala appears in personal names, and a seal refers to Anu as the weather god’s father. However, it is possible that a distinct western tradition regarding his parentage was followed in this area. While we do not know if Dagan was regarded as the father of the weather god of Aleppo in the third millennium BCE, it does appear that a connection between them was recognized in the Old Babylonian period. A mystery which for now cannot be solved is whether Dagan became the father of the weather god because his Hurrian counterpart Kumarbi was, or the other way around. Until more textual sources dealing with the theology of northern Syria surface it probably will remain impossible to answer this question for certain. Regardless of how the weather god came to be Dagan’s son, his mother in this situation would be Shalash. Her name is accidentally similar to Shala’s, but she has a distinct origin. In a ritual preserved in the Mari corpus but originating in Aleppo, Dagan and Shalash both appear alongside Hebat, which is generally taken as an indication they were regarded as members of one family.

Weather gods of Kumme and Arrapha in Mari (and beyond): enter Teshub

A late Bronze Age relief depicting Teshub (center left) and his wife Hebat (center right) alongside their family and court (wikimedia commons)

A further Mariote curiosity are references to weather gods of Kumme and Arrapha, to whom kings also paid respect. Both of these cities were Hurrian, and it is quite likely that the deity designated by the logogram normally read as Adad was in fact Teshub in these cases. Teshub was seemingly also starting to approach on the turf of the original weather god of Aleppo in the Old Babylonian period, as Hebat already shows up as his wife at this time. Eventually he fully replaced him, becoming the new weather god of Aleppo due to growing Hurrian cultural influence in Syria, though he did not hold this title forever. After the bronze age collapse local Luwian princes referred to the weather god of Aleppo as Tarhunza, and eventually the old name returned, with Arameans in the first millennium BCE worshiping Hadad in Aleppo. It’s worth noting a Neo-Assyrian treaty invokes the god of Aleppo separately from the Mesopotamian Adad, which indicates in this period the two were also viewed as separate. As a further Assyrian curiosity it might be worth bringing up “Adad of Kumme”, more or less the last reference to Teshub; see here for more information, in addition to Schwemer’s monograph. It is agreed the pairing Hebat with Teshub was adopted by Hurrians from northern Syria based on parallels between him and the local weather god, but it is not clear if he had a wife earlier. There is a theory that Shaushka, who in later sources firmly appears as his sister, was originally his spouse, but I will admit I do not fully get the reasoning, it’s not like anyone sensible advocates that Utu and Inanna were originally a couple. Feliu’s Shala theory strikes as much more plausible: Shaushka is firmly unmarried, Shala is firmly the wife of a weather god.

Coastal novelties, or the rise of Baal in Ugarit

Detail of the Baal stele from Ugarit (wikimedia commons).

The overlap between the weather god of Aleppo and Teshub was not the only western development in the second millennium BCE. Thai was the creation of Baal. The title designated the western weather god from the Mediterranean coast to roughly the middle Euphrates, though it only replaced the basic name, Hadad, in coastal areas. While the epithet Baal -or rather its cognates -  already occurs in the third millennium BCE (for example in titles of Dagan), its use to specifically designate a distinct weather god was a novelty. While it seems the use of the title Baal to designate a god derived from Hadad was widespread on the Mediterranean coast, this phenomenon is best attested from Ugarit. Baal had the standard responsibilities of a weather deity there, but also acquired the unique role of a protector of sailors. Rather fittingly, in the Baal Cycle his enemy is the personified sea, Yam. We know there already was a myth dealing with the conflict between a weather god and the sea before in the tradition of Aleppo, but I do not think there’s any real consensus over what it entailed. I’m under the impression that since Dagan was ultimately the supreme deity, and there’s no real indication his relationship with his children was negative, it is not impossible that what unfolded was more similar to the various myths about Ninurta’s exploits, where the hero acts on behalf of his father. This is ultimately pure speculation, though. Baal was associated neither with Shala nor with Hebat. The latter was only worshiped in Ugarit as the spouse of Teshub, recognized as the god of Aleppo. Baal himself seemingly had no permanent spouse, though Ugaritic literature might point at informal links between him and Anat and/or Ashtart. Ugaritic tradition recognized Dagan as his father, in line with the views popular further inland, though the matter is pretty complicated as the supreme coastal god El could also be referred as his father. This remains a matter of heated debate, and the fact “father” was also effectively a generic honorific does not really help. Multiple nondescript minor goddesses were recognized as Baal’s daughters, though their mother is left unspecified. Pidray is by far the best attested, and a recent discovery indicates she was already worshiped by Amorites in the Old Babylonian period, presumably in relation to the weather god of Aleppo. Aramaic Ramman

The last distinct name which needs to be briefly discussed here is Ramman(u), which in Mesopotamia earlier on was primarily a title of the god Amurru, who can be best described as a divine redneck stereotype. However, in the first millennium BCE Arameans used to refer to their version of Hadad, worshiped in Damascus arguably effectively as a distinct deity. For more on this topic, which I am actually not very well-versed in, see here. Other Mesopotamian weather deities While Adad was obviously THE Mesopotamian weather god, a second figure of analogous character, Wer, was worshiped in the north and west. The origin of his name is uncertain. The first consonant behaves in wildly unpredictable ways which do not really match the phonology of any known language spoken in ancient Mesopotamia which might mean it originates in a hitherto unknown extinct substrate. Wer is relatively sparsely attested in literature, but in the Old Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh he is referenced as the master of Humbaba, something unparalleled both in earlier and later versions of Gilgamesh narratives. We never actually encounter him in the surviving fragments, but Enkidu basically hypes him up as if he was an overarching shonen antagonist:

This passage is sourced from Andrew R. George's edition.

There’s a back and forth argument in scholarship over whether Wer/Mer can be identified with Itur-Mer, the tutelary god of Mari. I personally lean towards the view that he cannot, and that the competing view is more plausible. Said alternative relies on the structure of the name, which seems to be theophoric; in the light of this peculiarity it has been argued Itur-Mer was a deified ancestor or culture hero simply bearing a theophoric name invoking Mer. For a detailed discussion of this god see here. In the Lament for Sumer and Ur, the destructive aspects of the weather are “outsourced” to a deity named Kingaludda, “director of the storm”. He is otherwise pretty much only attested in An = Anum, where he occurs far away from Adad’s section. He gets glossed as “evil god”, ilu lemnu. Another antagonistic figure related to the weather is Bilulu from the myth Inanna and Bilulu. The rainbow was deified separately from other weather phenomena under the name Manzat. She for the most part had no real connection to Adad and his circle, though it has been noted temples dedicated to Adad and Shala and to Manzat were juxtaposed in Chogha Zanbil in Elam in modern Iran. All three appear there presumably because they were worshiped in heavily Mesopotamia-influenced Susa. I wrote about her extensively in the past, both here and on wikipedia, so while she is one of my favorite minor goddesses I do not think there is a need to say more here. A mistaken assumption common in older publications and online is that Enlil, the standard head of the pantheon, was a weather god. For his character see this article and this monograph in particular. Another common mistake is interpreting gods poetically compared to storms or fighting using weather phenomena in a single myth or two as weather gods. These are just poetic topoi and there’s no real reason to assert Ninurta, Tishpak or Inanna had much to do with the weather.

[pumpka-sysflags]

Horror/Bloody-Themed Names, Pronouns, and Titles!

Requested by anon!

Names: Agatha, Agnes, Belladonna, Buffy, Calantha, Calypso, Carmilla, Circe, Drusilla, Elena, Elvira, Esme, Glinda, Glory, Ivy, Lamia, Lorraine, Melanie, Morgana, Morrigan, Morticia, Persephone, Ravenna, Sayona, Seraphina, Tabitha, Xenia, Yolanda, Zilla, Alaric, Blade, Burton, Crowley, Cullen, Dagan, Diablo, Draven, Dullahan, Emmett, Fester, Giles, Griffin, Hatchet, Riot, Epitaph, Fang, Bloody, Veins, Scar, Slash, Bones, Corvid, Shade, Hellion, Terror, Fright, Dread, Fear, Alarm, Demon

Pronouns: Gore/Gores/Goreself, Guro/Guros/Guroself, Vio/Violent/Violentself, Stab/Stabs/Stabself, Cut/Cuts/Cutself, Scar/Scars/Scarself, Scar/Scarred/Scarredself, Bloo/Blood/Bloodself, Blee/Bleed/Bleedself, Skull/Skulls/Skullself, Brai/Brain/Brainself, Bon/Bones/Boneself, Teeth/Tooth/Toothself, Necro/Necrom/Necroself, Spook/Spooks/Spookself, Fear/Fears/Fearself, Startle/Startles/Startleself, Creep/Creeps/Creepself, Dark/Darks/Darkself, Ruthle/Ruthless/Ruthlesself, Brutal/Brutals/Brutalself, Cut/Throat/Cutthroatself, Merci/Merciless/Mercilesself, 😈/😈s/😈self, 👹/👹s/👹self, 👻/👻s/👻self, ☠️/☠️s/☠️self, 🎃/🎃s/🎃self, 🫀/🫀s/🫀self, 🫁/🫁s/🫁self, 🧠/🧠s/🧠self

Titles: The Horror, The Fear, The Epitome Of Horror, The Epitome Of Fear, The Nightmare, (The/My/Our) Worst Nightmare, (Pronoun) Who Strikes Fear Into Your Heart, (Pronoun) Who Strikes Terror Into Your Heart, (Pronoun) Who Brings Horror, The Heart, The Liver, The Lungs, The Nerves, The Heart Lungs Liver Nerves, The Paranoid Chant, (Pronoun) Who Is Paranoid, (The/My/Our) Paranoid Deity, The Blood, The Guts, The Gutted, The Disemboweled, The Degloved, (Pronoun) Whose Guts Hang Out, (Pronoun) Who Bleeds, (Pronoun) Who Wants Revenge, The Blood And Guts, (The/My/Our) Vengeful Deity, (The/My/Our) Bleeding God/Goddess

[baalsblade]

So who is Baal?

Baal or Baʻal, was a title and honorific meaning 'owner', 'lord' in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity.

Baal is a God of fertility, weather, rain, wind, lightning, seasons, war, sailors and so on.

Baal worship is also called Baalism.

Solid cast bronze of a votive figurine representing the god Baal discovered at Tel Megiddo, dating to the mid-2nd millennium BC.

His holy symbols are bull, ram and thunderbolt.

Baal was worshipped in ancient Syria, especially Halab, near, around and at Ugarit, Canaan, North Africa and Middle Kingdom of Egypt.

Baʿal is well-attested in surviving inscriptions and was popular in theophoric names throughout the Levant but he is usually mentioned along with other gods, "his own field of action being seldom defined". Nonetheless, Ugaritic records show him as a weather god, with particular power over lightning, wind, rain, and fertility. The dry summers of the area were explained as Baʿal's time in the underworld and his return in autumn was said to cause the storms which revived the land. Thus, the worship of Baʿal in Canaan—where he eventually supplanted El as the leader of the gods and patron of kingship—was connected to the regions' dependence on rainfall for its agriculture, unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, which focused on irrigation from their major rivers. Anxiety about the availability of water for crops and trees increased the importance of his cult, which focused attention on his role as a rain god. He was also called upon during battle, showing that he was thought to intervene actively in the world of man, unlike the more aloof El. The Lebanese city of Baalbeck was named after Baal.

The Baʿal of Ugarit was the epithet of Hadad but as the time passed, the epithet became the god's name while Hadad became the epithet. Baʿal was usually said to be the son of Dagan, but appears as one of the sons of El in Ugaritic sources. Both Baʿal and El were associated with the bull in Ugaritic texts, as it symbolized both strength and fertility. He held special enmity against snakes, both on their own and as representatives of Yammu (lit. "Sea"), the Canaanite sea god and river god. He fought the Tannin (Tunnanu), the "Twisted Serpent" (Bṭn ʿqltn), "Lotan the Fugitive Serpent" (Ltn Bṭn Brḥ, the biblical Leviathan), and the "Mighty One with Seven Heads" (Šlyṭ D.šbʿt Rašm). Baʿal's conflict with Yammu is now generally regarded as the prototype of the vision recorded in the 7th chapter of the biblicalBook of Daniel. As vanquisher of the sea, Baʿal was regarded by the Canaanites and Phoenicians as the patron of sailors and sea-going merchants. As vanquisher of Mot, the Canaanite death god, he was known as Baʿal Rāpiʾuma (Bʿl Rpu) and regarded as the leader of the Rephaim (Rpum), the ancestral spirits, particularly those of ruling dynasties.

From Canaan, worship of Baʿal spread to Egypt by the Middle Kingdom and throughout the Mediterranean following the waves of Phoenician colonization in the early 1st millennium BCE. He was described with diverse epithets and, before Ugarit was rediscovered, it was supposed that these referred to distinct local gods. However, as explained by Day, the texts at Ugarit revealed that they were considered "local manifestations of this particular deity, analogous to the local manifestations of the Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Church". In those inscriptions, he is frequently described as "Victorious Baʿal" (Aliyn or ẢlỈyn Baʿal), "Mightiest one" (Aliy or ʿAly) or "Mightiest of the Heroes" (Aliy Qrdm), "The Powerful One" (Dmrn), and in his role as patron of the city "Baʿal of Ugarit" (Baʿal Ugarit). As Baʿal Zaphon (Baʿal Ṣapunu), he was particularly associated with his palace atop Jebel Aqra (the ancient Mount Ṣapānu and classical Mons Casius). He is also mentioned as "Winged Baʿal" (Bʿl Knp) and "Baʿal of the Arrows" (Bʿl Ḥẓ). Phoenician and Aramaic inscriptions describe "Baʿal of the Mace" (Bʿl Krntryš), "Baʿal of the Lebanon" (Bʿl Lbnn), "Baʿal of Sidon" (Bʿl Ṣdn), Bʿl Ṣmd, "Baʿal of the Heavens" (Baʿal Shamem or Shamayin), Baʿal ʾAddir (Bʿl ʾdr), Baʿal Hammon (Baʿal Ḥamon), Bʿl Mgnm.

The epithet Hammon is obscure. Most often, it is connected with the NW Semitic ḥammān ("brazier") and associated with a role as a sun god. Renan and Gibson linked it to Hammon (modern Umm el-‘Amed between Tyre in Lebanon and Acre in Israel) and Cross and Lipiński to Haman or Khamōn, the classical Mount Amanus and modern Nur Mountains, which separate northern Syria from southeastern Cilicia.

The major source of our direct knowledge of this Canaanite deity comes from the Ras Shamra tablets, discovered in northern Syria in 1958, which record fragments of a mythological story known to scholars as the Baal Cycle. Here, he earns his position as the champion and ruler of the gods. The fragmentary text seems to indicate a feud between him and his father El as background. El chooses the fearsome sea god Yam to reign as king of the gods. Yam rules harshly, and the other deities cry out to Ashera, called Lady of the Sea, to aid. Ashera offers herself as a sacrifice if Yam will ease his grip on her children. He agrees, but Baal opposes such a scheme and boldly declares he will defeat Yam even though El declares that he must subject himself to Yam.

With the aid of magical weapons given to him by the divine craftsman Kothar-wa-Khasis, Baal defeats Yam and is declared victorious. He then builds a house on Mount Saphon, today known as Jebel al-Aqra. (This mountain, 1780 meters high, stands only 15 km north of the site of Ugarit, clearly visible from the city itself.)

Lo, also it is the time of His rain. Baal sets the season, And gives forth His voice from the clouds. He flashes lightning to the earth. As a house of cedars let Him complete it, Or a house of bricks let Him erect it! Let it be told to Aliyan Baal: 'The mountains will bring Thee much silver. The hills, the choicest of gold; The mines will bring Thee precious stones, And build a house of silver and gold. A house of lapis gems!'

However, the god of the underworld, Mot, soon lures Baal to his death, spelling ruin for the land. His sister Anat retrieves his body and begs Mot to revive him. When her pleas are rebuffed, Anat assaults Mot, ripping him to pieces and scattering his remains like fertilizer over the fields.

El, in the meantime, has had a dream in which fertility returned to the land, suggesting that Baal was not indeed dead. Eventually he is restored. However, Mot too has revived and mounts a new attack against him.

They shake each other like Gemar-beasts, Mavet [Mot] is strong, Baal is strong. They gore each other like buffaloes, Mavet is strong, Baal is strong. They bite like serpents, Mavet is strong, Baal is strong. They kick like racing beasts, Mavet is down. Baal is down.

After this titanic battle, neither side has completely prevailed. Knowing that the other gods now support Baal and fearing El's wrath, Mot finally bows before him, leaving him in possession of the land and the undisputed regent of the gods.

Baal is thus the archetypal fertility deity. His death signals drought and his resurrection, and brings both rain and new life. He is also the vanquisher of death. His role as a maker of rain would be particularly important in the relatively arid area of Palestine, where no mighty river such as the Euphrates or the Nile existed.

[angstydevil]

(I originally posted a version of this writeup in response to a poll for angels, concerning whether we believe in the religions we “come from”. However, the creator of that poll is a minor, and I do not intentionally interact with minors online, so I deleted my reply there and am making a separate post.)

I voted It’s complicated, but I’m explaining myself.

My religious identity is not simple. I am an omnist pantheist working primarily within mystic pagan frameworks. I believe in a metaphysical reality more vast than logical possibility, including many hyperverses (i.e. there are infinite metalogics and metamathematics, and there are things and parathings and unthings beyond those entirely).

I understand and sympathize with monotheism as worship of That which caused existence, extrinsically the validator of logical operators, intrinstically the source of spirit. Many people around me, the majority of human beings on planet Earth, view the God of Abraham as That or something like That, and so He is That and a Name of That in my reality.

Because I am working from mystic pagan frameworks, it would not be right to call myself a Christian (my body’s birth religion) or for me to lie about my real views and convert to Judaism or Islam. My views are very heretical in all of these religions.

I recognize Yaw as eternal God. I even capitalize His pronouns. (I understand His pronouns like this: Yaw has many names, prefers nameself pronouns, and uses, among others, the names He, Him, His, and Himself, along with She/etc., They/etc., (sometimes) It/etc. (but I would associate the name It more with Ba‘al).) But I am not a Yawistic devotee: I do not elevate Yaw’s names above all others, nor do I see His request for such worship as His commandment to anybody other than His devotees, i.e. people who have made a personal commitment to worship Him before all other Gods.

Elevation to the status of Highest Name of God is a fairly common thing for a Deity to ask of their devotees. In bhakti (devotion) practices, Hindu devotees may cultivate closeness to Brahman (God) by developing single-pointed awareness of their chosen Deity as That, Brahman. In Hellenic practices, my engagement with Theoi as primeval operators of emergence has been restricted to mystery practices, which I am not authorized to talk much about right now; let it suffice to say that exploring the cthonic underside can include recognition of such vast, unshakably real things as That and Emptiness within the spheres of Theoi.

For me, Yaw is a Deity. Like all Deities, He is the Supreme Deity, because by my definition of Supreme Deity, the Supreme Deity is simultaneously That which defines the powerset of All Deities, the powerset of All Deities Itself, and the operator of Deity-nature. Yaw is different than other Deities in that He has particular names and personal qualities. For example, He uses nameself pronouns which are capitalized because they are proper nouns. Other Deities have other particular names and personal qualities.

In my personal pantheon, Yaw = Yah (Him) is the soulbrother and brothername of Ba‘al = En/lil (the Lord). Both are soulchild childnames of El (God; Godhood) = Dagan (Destroyer; Father of Gods) and Asherah (Heaven). Their siblings include Anat = Ananke (Necessity; Providence), Mot = Mortum (Death), Shamshu = Shamash (the Sun; Consciousness), and ‘Attar = Venus (the Morningstar). All of the children of El are Gods. They are Elohim.

To some extent or another, all Gods are Elohim (which literally means Gods, plural). El means God, and El = Dagan is God of Godhood or Godness, similar to Zeus = Iupiter. But usually I use the word Elohim to refer to an apparently-different continuum of souls than, for example, the Theoi. The descendants of El = Dagan and Asherah make up the bulk of the soul group I know as the Elohim current, while Theoi are mostly descendants of Gaia = Terra and Ouranos = Uranus.

Among the children of El, I understand Him, the Lord, and Providence to be like “divine triplets”. The English translations of their names, like their parents’ names, are all commonly recognized to name the same theological Divinity, i.e. That, suggesting their spirits have had a tendency to flow together that has endured for thousands of years. To me, they are overlapping hypostases of That, limited, or distinguished, by their intrinsic personal qualities. They often present themselves together in a way akin to a Trinity God of Fate, akin to the Morai, the Morrígan, or even indeed the Christian trinity.

In the mythic theatre and symbolism of many ancient mythologies, lineages and relationships can be used to signify perceived dynamics between hypostatic eternal concepts. In saying that Yaw and Ba‘al and Anat are the children of El and Asherah, I’m not saying they are not self-created Divinities. I’m positing them as closely associated, overlapping continuations of the blended energies of Godhead and Heaven, within pagan mythopoetic language.

I say this as someone for whom this kind of mythopoetic language is second nature. If I were to try to reveal my personal gnosis about Yaw in the language that feels most natural to me, as a spirit from outside this human body, I might write something like this:

Goddess Anat was the eldest child (= self-continuing thought) of God Elohim and Goddess Asherim. She invented laws and the possibility of laws, which delighted Elohim so much that they designed realities to rule. But Asherim had not yet finished their first labor. God Ba‘al and God Yaw were born as conjoined twins, Anat’s triplet siblings, in the shape of a many eyed cyclone.

Ba‘al and Yaw viciously competed for the love and favor of Elohim but could not divide from one another’s motes of dust and water. Soon their mother birthed the world and Shapshu as twins amidst their fighting, and Ba‘al and Yaw both adopted and married Asherim as the Heavens.

Ba‘al loved Asherim, while Yaw soon divorced His mother-daughter and cursed their very names, whereupon the names and idols of Asherim were destroyed in the nations of Yaw. Yaw also cursed Ba‘al’s name, so Yaw would no longer be called His brother’s names, and the pair would be divided from one another, and Yaw would be One God. Ba‘al cursed Yaw’s names too. It told stories far and wide about why Yaw was no longer beloved by God and why Ba‘al Zebul rules from the highest place as Lord of Lords, Lord of everything. Ba‘al and Yaw became known as enemies.

But Ba‘al and Yaw had long been inseparable, and Yaw had cursed the Heavens. In time, Anat’s laws reversed the curse. Nowadays Yaw’s devotees call Him the Lord and almost never speak the name of Yaw. Yaw circles the face of the earth riding the clouds and saying Eliyaw! which means God is Yaw! but people say to Him We have heard your prophet, O Lord! The Lord is God!

People call Yaw by His brother’s names, and they know neither Him nor His brother. Both brothers regard their names as precious, so sometimes nymic blasphemy, or wickedness, makes either brother angry enough to go send multiplying swarms of swarming life, as when they together as their father created swarming life in the oceans, wherefore both are also called Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies, who sends Plagues. They are commonly detested together as a demon and a demiurge and a false god whenever they show signs of being alive, or of bearing any dreadful resemblance to their brother-uncles God Dagan and God Setesh. They are detested in this mantle, because in this mantle they destroy false authorities.

Anat delights Deists quietly, and Asherim teaches us to love our other souls.

Beel and Yaw are both important Deities to me. They are important presences in my life. I love Them dearly and feel loved. They usually appear to me as Beeliyah, a unified continuum of Divinity. Twin Deities who have reconciled and are together Deity of Causes, He That Will Be. A Deity who wants everyone to be happy and well-fed and prosperous and able to raise happy families. A Deity capable of getting very, very, very fucking angry--but not usually as bloodthirsty as portrayed by authors invoking Their names to curse foreign enemies.

On that note (pagans, please read at least this paragraph) I have to say that most Deities have unpleasant attributes in mythology, probably because mythology dramatizes and magnifies the world, which can be unpleasant. In modern pagan communities, it is not okay to call the worshippers of masculine-presenting Olympians rape apologists, unless they’re using Hellenic mythology to rationalize and promote rape. Following similar principles, pagans should not promulgate neo-atheist rhetoric that relies on villainizing Yah’s biblical character in order to criticize monotheistic religion. While it is okay to critically analyze mythologies and/or scriptures, it is never appropriate to call all of Yah’s devotees rape and ethnic cleansing apologists or to say that they all worship an evil God. This kind of rhetoric dismisses the differences between oppressed people and the authority structures that oppress them, excludes the possibility of a real Yah independent from whatever His ancient devotees wrote about Him, invalidates all nonscriptural personal and community gnosis about Yah as a Deity, and leaves critics without unique mechanisms to criticize and censor genocidal rape apologists whenever they do invoke Yah’s names and cite ancient ethnonationalist writings in favor of rape and genocide.

After all that, let me answer the question that brought me here: even though I can pray with Yawistic monotheists and sense my Lords, in Their innumerable unity and multiplicity, smiling back at me, even though I can and do find a deep sense of comfort reading Yawistic scriptures, even though I believe all religions have truths, I am, at the end of the day, a pagan. It wouldn’t feel right to just say “yes, I believe in the religion that often depicts me as a fallen angel” (Christianity). My personal views on theology diverge so much from mainstream Christianity that I am a heretic at most.

[orienteddreamerrr]

My favorite characters Alphabet Descriptions:

Feyd-Rautha:

A – Alluring

B – Bipolar

C – Crusader

D – Dangerous

E – Elite

F – Furious

G – Governing

H – Hot

I – ill-tempered

J – Justifying

K – Killer

L – Loyal

M – Man

N – Notorious

O – Opportunist

P – Player

Q – Quick

R – Robust

S – Strong

T – Tyrant

U – Untouchable

V – Venerable

W – Winner

X – Xenophobic

Y – Young

Z – Zealous

Silco:

A – Authoritarian

B – Businessman

C – Cynical

D – Drug man

E – ?

F – Fiendish

G – Grudge-holder

H – Heartless

I – Insomniac

J - ?

K – Killer

L – Loner

M – ?

N – Narcissistic

O – Obsessed

P – Powerful

Q - ?

R – Risk-taker

S – Skinny

T – Tyrannical

U – Unquestionable

V – Vigil

W - ?

X - ?

Y - ?

Z - ?

Dagan Gera:

A – Ardent

B – Bad

C – Cunning

D – Dreamer

E – Enraged

F – Fanatic

G – Guiding light

H – Hateful

I – Iconic

J – Jedi Knight

K – Knowing

L – Liar

M – Mystery

N – Nomadic

O – Oppressive

P – Pilot

Q – Quick

R – Rogue

S – Skillful

T – Trained

U – Unique

V – Vain

W – Wryly

X - ?

Y – Yammer

Z - Zealot

Aloy:

A – Ambitious

B – Brave

C – Celebrity

D – Deity (What other people see her as)

E – Enticing

F – Forgiving

G - ?

H – Hopeful

I – Independent

J - ?

K - ?

L – Lovable

M – Musing

N – Noteworthy

O – Obedient

P – Passionate

Q – Queer

R – Resourceful

S – Savior

T – Tamer

U – Understanding

V – Valuable

W – Willful

X - ?

Y – Youthful

Z - ?

[balzabul]

Today's demon: Dagan/Dagon! Originally a Mesopotamian and Syrian agricultural deity, often invoked to reify legitimacy of kingship

[444names]

Names generated from Hindu deities, combined with Hindu deities backwards, excluding the letter "H"

Aboda Abodnumavi Adiya Adnainilab Adnanum Adnuk Adobag Adrap Adrapuru Adurakita Adurenum Adurgadura Agadurajra Agnamalali Agnasom Ajetal Ajetan Akaruna Akasu Akiba Akita Akoon Aksena Alaga Alatnarb Aleswaran Alkibal Amadni Amala Amanna Amant Amara Amari Amati Amayeran Amayu Ambik Ambikardni Ammad Ammaisa Ammak Ammani Ammay Amunarap Amura Analak Anamaruga Anara Andralali Aneskarani Angan Animuj Anirb Aniws Annik Antari Antarik Anujar Anumakitav Anumari Anvanum Anvaya Anvednuma Apsavt Arabika Arajali Arani Aranuma Arapus Arasaki Aratari Arati Araved Aravi Aravsamuna Arbud Arbuda Arbus Ardaga Ardangan Ardnam Ardnum Ardral Areer Ariani Arikamar Arumi Aruni Asairp Asalalak Asavi Asleya Astaru Asurgan Asvan Atanu Atanum Ataradi Atareeb Atidyati Atikamuj Atima Atmida Atnaramarb Atpuravs Atratra Atrep Atriama Atrri Atrundi Aturup Avamanap Avartav Avnarjalki Ayellamoon Ayidev Ayina Ayinda Aynamana Aynan Aynati Ayrapaji Ayujratpus Ayyamuk Ayyani Ayyardnar Ayyat Ayyav Ayyayya...

Bagan Bagani Bagni Baguranyu Bagurya Balastavis Ballama Beesa Braks Bratra Britida Budduy Dagan Dandnav Darana Dardra Datrey Devarda Devat Devita Devnareb Devnaya Ditam Divednum Diver Dradub Durati Duryav Gabodiyas Gajajra Gajetar Galamak Garanver Idnaj Idnay Idnujaj Idnuk Ignali Ignava Ijanum Ijmayya Ikalabodni Iketuyca Ilakoon Ilama Ilaxmi Ilieb Illam Illelsa Imala Imayammati Imtarad Imukav Imunas Inagru Inakitra Inamala Inamati Inana Inari Inatsarb Inattani Inava Inavarp Inavi Inaya Indradra Inimxalla Inirri Iniwsap Innali Innaviv Iraboda Irajetan Iranaryan Iraniratid Irantarak Irasa Iravatra Irkali Irkanagu Irris Irtamji Irtan Irtana Irtara Irtav Irtimxal Irtis Irtiv Itanamatna Itannayed Itapara Itappas Itapusarus Itara Itarawsar Itari Itark Itavaraji Itawsena Itaynayar Itidnu Itkala Itkar Itoyj Itris Itrooma Ityaga Ivandras Ivarti Ivaswarb Ivatavi Ivati Ivayak Ixiur Jagni Jalli Jaravt Juyca Jyoti Jyotiv Kalaj Kalalab Kalamra Kalarmal Kalla Kamanta Kamavalak Kamina Kamman Kandeviva Kandiya Kanik Kanilab Keswara Keyapram Kibmakra Kirtakiama Krias Kumatur Kunar Kunatmi Labodiyan Labosak Lakalaks Lalab Lalakat Lambik Lammarb Makasoba Makibma Malak Malakalab Malam Manda Mandi Mangal Manta Maral Marjarati Marma Mataryama Matna Matrinan Matru Mayan Mayed Mayna Mayrup Mayya Meenav Meenumak Midari Miyaram Mooka Moortaran Mujarasak Mukya Munam Muradran Muragna Mureb Murguruna Mutav Nagnatap Nagru Naini Nairtida Nakibmari Nakini Nalam Namak Namantana Namar Namari Namarik Namaritamu Namavas Nammali Namrati Namukya Namutamma Nanaijnix Nandap Naram Naramanum Natali Natidar Natragur Natrrik Navas Navati Naved Nayaga Nayanag Nayera Naykum Naynaman Nayti Nayyavar Pajari Pajrat Pannaga Panyas Pasuravam Pasvam Patara Patroom Pertarud Prana Pravs Prikallala Puras Radra Ragala Rajagra Rajaj Rajau Rajran Rakalin Ramanyayra Ramunavrad Randati Raneera Rangan Ranurgan Rapus Ratamalab Ratpug Ravra Rayyak Rbuddurvas Reebuda Reenum Rtambos Rtari Rtavarey Ruddura Rumaya Rupani Rupta Sakarantar Samata Sangaj Sarati Satri Savasva Savsa Sivan Sivar Sivarb Stadiv Sugalallab Surab Survana Swinamma Tadduya Tanimar Taranu Tekibma Tnara Tnasom Tnaya Uajra Uardur Umata Unati Unavitamma Undnark Uneskavrus Uradratr Utadi Utari Utavara Utsanu Uyami Vairannav Valaji Vanta Vareem Vayidevasa Vediman Vednagnarb Veeravra Venumak Verta Visayammak Vitatra Vivamji Vivanavasu Yaknes Yamal Yarena Yasivaka Yekinari Yelsa Yeralala

[nerdyant]

One of the Ugaritic snake-bite incantations lists the following divinities with their mountains or cult-sites: El on mount ks, Baal on sfipn (1.100.9), Anat and Athtart on ’inbb (1.100.20); and Dagan at ttl (Tuttul, 1.100.15), Resheph at bbt (1.100.31), Athtart at mr (Mari, 1.100.78) and perhaps Mlk at ‘ttrt (Ashtarot, 1.100.41), Yarih at lrgt (1.100.26), and ZfiZfi and KMT at hfiryth (1.100.36). The Ugaritic texts recogniz a distinction between home and foreign divinities and home and foreign cult-sites. Although Kothar wa-Hasis’s activities of weapon making (1.2 IV) and palace building (1.4 V–VII) clearly take place in the center, he has no mountain as his abode. Instead, he is said to dwell in Memphis and Caphtor (1.100.46), perhaps a reflection of the center of foreign culture and system of trade that brought artisans at Ugarit the materials necessary for their craft.

- the abodes of Ugaritic deities (in The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts, by Mark S. Smith)

[nogetron]

El, the original Semitic creator god. An omnipotent creator, all things emerged from his hands. With Reality bending around his fingers, El is the highest authority across the pantheon, Even greater than the king of the gods Baal. The specifics on how El created the universe is still a mystery, but it is believed that he created the cosmos from the nothingness around him. After creation, El investigated the seas of Chaos that flowed from him, among the waves bobbed the heads of two women, that of Asherah and Raḥmayyu. Curious, El took them home and began cooking a bird, he asked them that once the bird was done if they could call to him as either father or husband, whichever one they picked he would behave as such, once the bird was done they called to him as husband. The following intimate night resulted in the birth of Shachar and Shalim, the gods of Dusk and Dawn. From his coupling with his two wives the pantheon of Canaan was born. Baal, Mot, Yam, Astarte, Anat, all of them came from the light of El. El oversaw and organized the race for the throne of the king of the gods, a competition in which his children could campaign to be bestowed the throne by El. During the race, the sea god Yam gained much influence, with him having the favor of El’s wife Asherah. However, during a gathering of the pantheon, Yam insults the entire pantheon including his own father El. But following a duel with Baal, Yam is defeated and forced to pull out of the race, leaving Baal to be crowned the king of the gods. With the help of Asherah, Baal is able to convince El to authorize the construction of a palace. However during a feast ushered by the newly appointed Baal, the death god Mot consumes him. El joins the universe in grieving the loss of his son. Despite being in the throes of grief, El dreams that Baal is still alive. Elated, El sends the sun goddess Shapsh to rescue his son. After his return Baal once again begins combat with Mot, that is until El steps in, threatening Mot that if he continues he’d annihilate him, causing Mot to back down. In a separate myth, during a feast of the gods, El gets outrageously drunk, but is ultimately healed.

El was an incredibly important deity, it cannot be understated just how important he was. His worship evolved and transmitted into many different gods, the Syrian Dagan, the Mesopotamian Anu Enlil and Marduk, the Hurrian Kumarbi, and his Hittite form Elkunirsa. El also corresponds to the Chinese Shangdi, the Zoroastrian Ahura Mazda, and the Slavic Rod and Svarog, with some of these gods possibly developing out of El. The Egyptian Ptah also has traces of El within his worship, as both share the epithet of “Eternal”, however among the Egyptians Kothar-wa-khasis was supposed to be cognate with Ptah. The most important theological relation El holds is his connection to the modern Abrahamic God, as El is the direct originator of the Deity. Originally Known as Yhwh, this deity originated as the Israeli form of El, similar to how Dagan was the Syrian form of the god. Yhwh was a divine warrior god married to Asherah, with their children being the other Canaan gods like Baal and Astarte, all these deities held divine messengers known as Malak. Yhwh was the foremost worshipped deity in ancient Israel, with the vast majority of prayer being offered to them. However during the subjugation of Israel under Babylon, the monotheistic Yhwh emerged as a form of resistance against their Babylonian rulers. The deities of Canaan were demonized and absorbed into Yhwh and his Malak, who became the angels of Abrahamic faith. The naming scheme of angels keeps their relation with El, as seen in Raphael the oldest name among the angels. The modern God shares many of their other titles with El, including El Shaddai, Elohim (the term referring to the Canaanite pantheon meaning “the children of El), and El Elyon. Phoenicia also held Canaan’s gods and myths, including El. However due to being conquered by the Greeks, Phoenicia was forced to Hellenize their culture, with it essentially becoming Greek mythology with a Canaanite coat of paint. This is seen most prominently in their recorded creation myth, in which El wasn’t the creator or original god, but rather the son of the sky and earth who in turn were created by El Elyon, which was originally a name for El himself. El is later deposed by Baal, obviously this myth is heavily based on the greek theogony, with El taking the place of Chronus and Baal with Zeus. My personal theory on the origin of El is that he may have developed from the African creator gods, like Ra, Nyame, Amma, and even possibly Zanahary. El held many titles, such as “the bull god”, “Creator of creatures”, “the gracious one”, “father of the gods” and “father of man”. In many god lists from ancient Canaan, El is preceded by Ilib, a character not mentioned in any other texts. Ilib’s placement has led to the idea that it was possibly a forerunner deity to El, however no other texts support this, and the belief that El was the original deity contradicts this. Ilib is used as a term to refer to dead ancestors in Canaan, so most likely the Ilib in the god lists refers to the familial dead ancestors. The word El is used as a term to denote a deity in Canaanite language, evolving from Il, in texts however El himself is distinguished from this word by using ha El meaning “the great El”.

[darkmaga-returns]

In the pantheon of ancient pagan deities, few evoke such visceral horror as Kronos, or Saturn — the devourer of children.

The image of this dark god, seated upon his throne while his worshipers offer up innocent lives, casts a long shadow over the cradle of civilization. To many ancient cultures, the cries of infants were the price of favor and prosperity, and their blood stained the altars of nations far and wide. From the high places of Canaan to the brazen idols of Carthage, the ritualized slaughter of infants was seen not as a tragedy, but as the ultimate expression of one’s devotion.

The worship of Saturn was once widespread, and the ancient Near East saw a myriad of manifestations of this entity (emphasis mine):

Textual evidence from ancient Mesopotamia identifies Kronos as the Phoenician Baal Hammon, and the earlier Mesopotamian deities Kumarbi (Hurrians), El (Canaan), Dagan (Amorites and Philistines), Assur (Assyria), and Enlil (Akkad and Sumer). All of — Derek P. Gilbert, The Second Coming of Saturn

I have previously discussed the history of the nephilim — of which the Amorites numbered — in my essay BC III: What is a Giant? Part I. Nevertheless, the strong textual and historical connections linking the Amorites to the genesis of the Saturnian cultus are impossible to ignore.

The pagan deity Moloch is connected to Baal in Jeremiah 32:35, where it is said: “They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Moloch.” Baal, Moloch, and Saturn, gods of death & time, demanded the same price — the blood of the innocent. Ancient writers widely accepted that these gods were different names for the same being, with parallel myths of vengeful fathers devouring their children whilst paired with cultic infant sacrifice.

Roman historians like Tacitus and Cassius Dio recorded these ghastly rites practiced by their implacable Phoenician foes, although the most chilling tale of these rituals comes from the pen of the Greek historian Plutarch (emphasis mine):

[yamayuandadu]

I have a question regarding a list of gods in Ugarit. Who are Baal-of-Ugarit and Baal-of-Sapun? Which of them refers to the Baal from the Baal Cycle? And especially, who are the other 'b'lm' listed?

Dennis Pardee concludes that Baal of Saphon is probably more or less identical with Baal as a literary character, while Baal of Ugarit would be more or less the same Baal as worshiped in the city itself/its main temple (Ritual and Cult at Ugarit, p. 276-277). Daniel Schwemer (The Storm-Gods of the Ancient Near East: Summary, Synthesis, Recent Studies: Part II, p. 10-11) also assumes that these are two manifestations of one deity, probably worshiped in the same temple. Essentially the same sort of difference as between invoking Inanna in Uruk as “just” Inanna and as Nin-Eanna, as opposed to two fully separate deities. Spencer J. Allen shows some skepticism, since technically no text actually identifies the two with each other (The Splintered Divine, p. 205-207), though he ultimately also admits that it’s probably safe to consider the cult of Baal of Ugarit an offshoot of the cult of Baal of Saphon (p. 212). He also concludes all available evidence confirms Baal of Saphon is Baal the literary character (p. 214).Beyond that, things get progressively more murky. As you probably already noticed, in at least one case (KTU 1.118) we have Baal of Saphon and then six nondescript “Baaluma”. Allen recently summarized some of the past attempts at identifying them (The Splintered Divine, p. 204-205); these include treating them as unspecified hypostases of Baal of Saphon; as a reference to cult images present in the temple(s); or possibly as fully independent deities who just happen to share the same moniker and simply rank slightly lower than Baal of Saphon.

I am not sure if anyone tried identifying the anonymous plural Baals with the two enigmatic non-geographical Baals who appear in some offering lists, Baal-kanapi, "Baal of the wing” (Pardee on p. 276 of Ritual and Cult suggests that this is essentially the Ugaritic understanding of Seth - presumably he means the style of depictions of Seth as a “divine foreigner” modeled on a typical weather god, but with wings), and the completely enigmatic Baal r’kt. I found nothing.

The final and most distinct case is that of Baal of Halab, who is obviously the weather god of Aleppo and rather clearly a distinct deity in Ugaritic imagination; in KTU 1.130 he receives offerings separately from Baal of Saphon. This situation repeats in KTU 1.148, but interestingly there he is listed before Baal of Saphon, as if he was the higher ranked deity. To be fair, in terms of religious and political influence Aleppo would arguably indeed be well beyond Mount Saphon. I think there is no real reason to treat Baal of Halab as identical with the Ugaritic Baal; the two are functionally as separate from each other as they are from Mesopotamian Adad. Hurrian sources from Ugarit recognize Teshub as the god of Aleppo, which matches the cultural "hurrianization" of the city at the time, but I’m not sure if we can necessarily assume that’s what everyone thought of when they took part in rituals referring to the god of Aleppo as Baal. Perhaps the situation was similar to when Zimri-Lim and his contemporaries made offerings to weather gods of Kumme or Arrapha without necessarily even knowing they were locally referred to as Teshub - we may never know.

Some more notes on the weather god of Aleppo and friends (in particular Pidray) below the cut, since they’re not fully relevant to your question.

Obviously, beyond the recognition of Dagan as Baal’s father, there’s little evidence for Aleppine influence on Ugaritic conception of the weather god and his circle, as far as I am aware. Saphon is the residence of the gods rather than an actual personified fully anthropomorphic weather god, there’s no trace of a bull chariot, Hebat, Tenu et al are absent, etc. This being said - there’s an interesting possibility that Pidray might have originated over there which would have huge implications. One of the only references to her from outside Ugarit, the oldest one yet at that, has recently been identified in an Akkadian-Amorite bilingual list by Andrew R. George and Manfred Krebernik, and they suggest she might have specifically originated around Aleppo as a daughter of the local weather god (Two Remarkable Vocabularies: Amorite-Akkadian Bilinguals!, p. 139). 

For what it’s worth, the weather god of Aleppo, with a permanent spouse etc., certainly fits the profile of a divine father more than unmarried Ugaritic Baal who at best has friends with benefits (that’s not my interpretation, for clarity, Schwemer wrote this, without using the term “friends with benefits” though); Pidray and her sisters being an awkwardly incorporated part of a different theological system would explain a lot. Also, it feels important for the case of Pidray that no matter how many times they are misidentified as “Canaanite” online, Resheph, Anat and Yarikh were also deities more popular in Amorite areas around the Middle Euphrates (in Yarikh’s case attestations actually go all the way up to Eshnunna!) and largely or entirely (depending on location and time period) absent from coastal areas; so even though the conception of weather god differed, I don’t think the recent shift towards treating Ugarit more and more as a part of a broader Amorite (or, better yet, Hurrian+Amorite) world is unjustified.

[ina-shumelim]

Feet of Clay: Ba‘la-be’a and her siblings

Last week Two weeks ago Like a month ago (I’ve been writing on this for a while), researchers and students of Ancient West Asia met in Helsinki for the yearly Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale. There were a lot of interesting lectures by philologists, archaeologists, historians, what have you, but one that really touched me was concerned with a set of footprints impressed in clay and was given by Samantha Rainford. I will try here to retell the story of Ba‘la-be’a and her siblings, but it has been a few weeks and my notes are, well, succinct.

Over 3000 years ago, in the city of Emar by the Euphrates River, a woman named Ku’e attempts to sell off her daughter Ba‘la-be’a, stating in a sale contract:

My husband went away; [my/our] children were all babies [and I did not have anyone] who could feed them. Therefore I have sold my daughter Ba‘la-be’a to be a daughter of ‘Anat-’ummī, wife of  Šegal, son of Ikki, and thus I could feed the other small children of mine during year of the famine.

(Translation by Carlo Zaccagnini, Feet of Clay at Emar and Elsewhere, 1994; square brackets indicate reconstructed text.)

However, ‘Anat-’ummī appears to not have paid the agreed upon price and thus, the sale is cancelled. Still in need of money and, despite her husband’s return, unable to care for her children, Ku’e thus finds another buyer, the diviner Ba‘l-mālik. This time, though, as a second contract records, it is not only Ba‘la-be’a she gives up, but also her sons Ba‘l-bēlī and ’Išma‘-Dagan, as well as her baby daughter Ba‘la-’ummī, whom she promises to hand over once she has been weaned. In the context of this sale, Ku’e and her husband Zadamma impressed the feet of their three older children into clay. From the size of one of the footprints, Carlo Zaccagnini tentatively assumes that Ba‘la-be’a, the eldest of the children, was only two years old when she was sold away.

(The following is a photo of Ba‘l-bēlī’s footprint as published in Jean-Claude Margueron’s Les Mésopotamiens, Tome 2, 1991.)

But what was the deal with the feet of clay? Artifacts like these are rare. All the more interesting are thus the following sentences from a series of tablets used for scribal education, Ana ittišu (published by Benno Landsberger, Die Serie ana ittišu, 1937):

He who has no father nor mother He who knows not his father or mother He was found in a well, brought in from the street He took him from the mouth of a dog Before witnesses he took his foot They sealed the measure of his feet with the seal of the witnesses.

(Ana ittišu 3 iii 28–44; my translation does not differ significantly from Landsberger’s.)

One might interpret these sentences as an orphan’s adoption that is documented legally by taking a measure of the child’s foot. A similar passage may be available to us in one of the earliest Mesopotamian law collections, the Code of Lipit-Ištar, which precedes the much more famous Code of Hammurāpi by almost two centuries, although the relevant part is broken off: “If a man rescues a child from a well, he shall […] feet […]” (translation by Martha Roth, Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, 1995).

Rainford supposes that the man who bought the children, Ba‘l-mālik, might have been aware of these texts. As a diviner, after all, he was a member of the Mesopotamian intelligentsia. By having the toddlers’ feet impressed in clay, he thus may have been imitating a tradition regarding the adoption of orphaned children.

We don’t know anything further about the life of Ba‘la-be’a and her baby sister. Their brothers, however, Yoram Cohen suggests, may have been trained as scribes by Ba‘l-mālik, for we find their, albeit common names, as signatures under two lexical lists, that is, ancient dictionaries: “Hand of Ba‘l-bēlī, novice diviner, servant of (the scribal deities) Nabû and Nisaba” (translation by Cohen, Feet of Clay at Emar: A Happy End?, 2005). A happy end indeed? In a world that forces parents to sell their children for fear of starvation, maybe.