Baal
Baal (/ˈbeɪ.əl, ˈbɑː.əl/), or Baʻal (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. 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.
| Baʿal | |
|---|---|
Solid cast bronze of a votive figurine representing the god Baal discovered at Tel Megiddo, dating to the mid-2nd millennium BC. | |
| Symbol | Bull, ram, thunderbolt |
| Region |
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| Personal information | |
| Parents | |
| Siblings | Hebat (in Syrian tradition), Anat |
| Consorts | possibly Anat and/or Athtart |
| Offspring | Pidray, Tallay, Arsay |
| Equivalents | |
| Greek equivalent | Zeus |
| 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) |
| Deities of the ancient Near East |
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| Religions of the ancient Near East |
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.