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Tales concerning Baal date back to the mid-14th and late 13th centuries BCE in written form.

Baal: Ancient Canaanite-Phoenician God of Fertility and Weather Discover Baal, the Ancient Canaanite-Phoenician Deity Linked to Fertility, Storms, and Rain March 29, 2022 16 minutes read <img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="600" height="196" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20600%20196'%3E%3C/svg%3E" data-src="https://brewminate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/1Banner600.jpg" alt="Baal: Ancient Canaanite-Phoenician God of Fertility and Weather" class="wp-image-142179 lazy" title="Baal: Ancient Canaanite-Phoenician God of Fertility and Weather 1" data-srcset="https://brewminate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/1Banner600.jpg 600w, https://brewminate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/1Banner600-300x98.jpg 300w, https://brewminate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/1Banner600-50x16.jpg 50w" data-sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /> <img decoding="async" width="258" height="500" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20258%20500'%3E%3C/svg%3E" data-src="https://brewminate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/122721-43-History-Religion.jpg" alt="Baal: Ancient Canaanite-Phoenician God of Fertility and Weather" class="wp-image-168393 lazy" title="Baal: Ancient Canaanite-Phoenician God of Fertility and Weather 2" data-srcset="https://brewminate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/122721-43-History-Religion.jpg 258w, https://brewminate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/122721-43-History-Religion-155x300.jpg 155w" data-sizes="(max-width: 258px) 100vw, 258px" />Baal, right arm raised. Bronze figurine, 14th-12th centuries, found in Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit). / Photo by Jastrow, Louvre Museum, Wikimedia Commons Tales concerning Baal date back to the mid-14th and late 13th centuries BCE in written form. <img decoding="async" width="100" height="100" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20100%20100'%3E%3C/svg%3E" data-src="https://brewminate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/JoshuaJMark100.jpg" alt="Baal: Ancient Canaanite-Phoenician God of Fertility and Weather" class="wp-image-135628 lazy" title="Baal: Ancient Canaanite-Phoenician God of Fertility and Weather 3" data-srcset="https://brewminate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/JoshuaJMark100.jpg 100w, https://brewminate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/JoshuaJMark100-50x50.jpg 50w, https://brewminate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/JoshuaJMark100-73x73.jpg 73w" data-sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" /> By Dr. Joshua J. MarkProfessor of PhilosophyMarist College Introduction Baal (also given as Ba’al) is a Canaanite-Phoenician god of fertility and weather, specifically rainstorms. The name was also used as a title, however, meaning “Lord” and was applied to a number of different deities throughout the ancient Near East. Baal is best known today from the Bible as the antagonist of the Israelite cult of Yahweh. Tales concerning Baal date back to the mid-14th and late 13th centuries BCE in written form but are understood to be much older, preserved by oral tradition until committed to writing. Excavations of the ancient city of Ugarit (modern-day Ras Shamra, Syria) beginning in 1929 CE revealed thousands of cuneiform tablets, many of them relating the tales of the gods and, specifically, Baal, who became king of the gods, replacing El. Baal’s popularity is attested by the many copies found of the stories that make up the so-called Baal Cycle which relates how Baal conquers death and assumes the kingship of the gods. The story of Baal’s descent to the underworld and return has often been cited as an early example of the dying and reviving god motif but this has been challenged as Baal does not actually die and return to life. The personal name Baal is also a theophoric name which could apply to many male deities throughout the Levant and Mesopotamia but is most frequently used to refer to Baal Hadad (also Ba’al Adad), the god of storms and rain in Canaanite and Mesopotamian religion who eventually became a war god as well. Baal Hadad is the central character of the Baal Cycle and also the god who appears in the biblical books of Exodus and I and II Kings where he is portrayed negatively. By the time of the Protestant Reformation (1517-1648 CE) he was regularly referenced as Beelzebub (“Lord of the Flies”) and thought synonymous with the Christian devil. In the present day, interest in Baal has been revived by Neo-Pagan and Wiccan groups who often choose him as their personal deity in ritual worship. Mesopotamian Origins Baal Hadad originated in Mesopotamia under the names Adad in the north and Iskur in the south. He is attested as early as the time of the Akkadian Empire (2334-2218 BCE) but became more popular after the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur (2047-1750 BCE) during the First Babylonian Empire (c. 1894 to c. 1595 BCE). Even so, at this time, he was not a major deity and was often associated with the storm god Ninurta as a subordin...