Baal
Semitic title often used in reference to deities / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Baal?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Baal (/ˈbeɪ.əl, ˈbɑː.əl/),[6][lower-alpha 1] or Baʻal[lower-alpha 2] (Hebrew: בַּעַל baʿal), was a title and honorific meaning 'owner' or 'lord' in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied to gods.[11] Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities, but inscriptions have shown that the name Ba'al was particularly associated with the storm and fertility god Hadad and his local manifestations.[12]
Baʿal | |
---|---|
Symbol | Bull, ram, thunderbolt |
Region |
|
Personal information | |
Parents | |
Siblings | Hebat (in Syrian tradition), Anat |
Consorts | possibly Anat and/or Athtart[1][2] |
Offspring | Pidray, Tallay, Arsay[3] |
Equivalents | |
Greek equivalent | Zeus[4] |
Mesopotamian equivalent | Hadad |
Hurrian equivalent | Teshub |
Egyptian equivalent | Set (due to being a foreign god in Egypt, since Set was the god of foreigners – otherwise Baal Zephon equivalent with Hadad who is analogous to Ba’al, was also equated with Horus)[5] |
The Hebrew Bible includes use of the term in reference to various Levantine deities, often with application towards Hadad, who was decried as a false god. That use was taken over into Christianity and Islam, sometimes under the form Beelzebub in demonology.