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| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| Goddess name "ASERAH" | Amorite, Canaanite,Phoenician, Lebanon, Syria | Mother goddess. Aserah is the great mother goddess of Canaan. Known as Lady Aserah of the sea, she seems to have lived close by the place of IL, the Canaanite creator god, and is said to have had many sons. She is described as the creatress of the gods and the matron of a number of other goddesses who oversee the natural world. She is also ambiguous in her attitude to BAAL. She intercedes with Il when Baal wishes to build a palace of his own yet, when he is vanquished, she attempts to place one of her own offspring on the throne.... |
| Goddess name "ASTARTE (star)" | Semitic, Phoenician, Lebanon, Syria / The goddess of the evening star, of war / of sexual love | Fertility goddess. Inscriptions from the fifth century BC in her major temple at Sidon suggest she was perceived as an emanation of BAAL SAMIN, personifying his Divine power. She is also his consort. Her animal is the sphinx, which typically appears on either side of her throne.... |
| God name "Ambrosia" | Greek | In ancient mythology, Ambrosia is sometimes the food, sometimes the drink, of the gods. The word has generally been derived from Greek a- ("not") and mbrotos ("mortal"); hence the food or drink of the immortals. Thetis anointed the infant Achilles with ambrosia and påśśed the child through the fire to make him immortal - a familiar Phoenician custom - but Peleus, appalled, stopped her. |
| Goddess name "Astaroth" | Western Semitic | Fertility goddess. Goddess of sheep herders equating with the Phoenician goddess ASTARTE. Also a plural form of the name Astoreth and used as a collective name for goddesses (cf. BAAL).... |
| God name "Attar" | Western Semitic | God of the morning star. In Canaanite legend, he attempts to usurp the dead BAAL but proves inadequate to fill the god's throne. In semi-arid regions of western Asia where irrigation is essential, he was sometimes worshiped as a Rain god. His female counterpart is the Phoenician ASTARTE. Also probably identified as Dhu-S amani in more southerly regions.... |
| God name "Baa! Ma!age" | Western Semitic / Phoenician | Local tutelary god. Probably of Canaanite origin, closely equating with BAAL SAMIN and known only from inscriptions.... |
| Deities name "Baa! Samin (lord of heaven)" | Western Semitic / Phoenician | Head of the pantheon. Probably originated in Canaanite culture as a god of Rain and vegetation, but became extensively revered in places as far apart as Cyprus and Carthage. Epithets include bearer of thunder. Baal Samin is first mentioned in a fourteenth century BC treaty between the Hittite king Suppiluliuma and Nigmadu II of Ugarit. He had a major sanctuary at Byblos, according to inscription, built by Yehemilk. Josephus confirms that his cult existed at the time of Solomon. At Karatepe his name appears at the head of a list of national deities and on Seleucid coinage he is depicted wearing a half-moon crown and carrying a radiate Sun disc. Other epithets include lord of eternity and he may also have been god of storms at sea, a patron deity of mariners. By Hellenic times he equated with ZEUS in the Greek pantheon and the Romans identified him as Caelus (sky). Also Baal-Samem.... |
| Deities name "Baa! Sapon" | Western Semitic / Phoenician | Local tutelary god. Probably of Canaanite origin and closely equating with BAAL SAMIN. According to Ugaritic texts he lives on a mountain in the north of Phoenicia known as Saphan, which may have served as a beacon for mariners. Other local variations of mountain deities include Baal Hermon and Baal Brathy.... |
"Beelsamin" | Romn | Lord of heaven. Phoenician equivalent to Zeus |
| God name "Bethel" | Western Semitic / Phoenician | Local tutelary god. Probably of Aramaean or Syrian origin. First mentioned in a fourteenth century treaty between the Hittite king Suppiluliuma and Nigmadu II of Ugarit [Ras Samra]. He appears more regularly on inscriptions from the end of the seventh century BC and enjoyed considerable popularity during the neo-Babylonian period. Bethel is mentioned in the Biblical text of Jeremiah 48.13, implying that some Israelites acknowledged this deity. There is no evidence of links with the historical place names, including that mentioned in Genesis 38.13.... |
| Supreme god name "Dagan (2)" | Western Semitic / Canaanite / Phoenician | Grain and fertility god. The father of BAAL in Ugaritic creation epics. A major sanctuary was built in his honor at Mari [Syria] and he was recognized in parts of Mesopotamia where he acquired the consort Salas. Worshiped mainly at Gaza and Asdod, but also the supreme god of the Philistines. Known in biblical references as Dagon (Judges 16.23). Mentioned in the apocryphal Book of Maccabees. The cult is thought to have continued until circa 150 BC. Israelite misinterpretation of the Ugaritic root Dagan led to the åśśumption that he was a fish god, therefore attributes include a fish tail.... |
| Goddess name "Esmun" | Western Semitic / Phoenician | God of healing. Known first from the Iron Age levels at Sidon, his cult spread as far as Carthage, Cyprus and Sardinia. Possibly became syncretized with the god MELQART and, in Hellenic times, with the physician god ASKLEPIOS. His name further became linked with the mother goddess CAELESTIS.... |
| Goddess name "Hadad" | Western Semitic / Syrian / Phoenician | weather god. Derived from the Akkadian deity ADAD. In texts found at the site of the ancient Canaanite capital of Ugarit [Ras Samra] , the name of Hadad apparently becomes a substitute for that of BAAL. His voice is described as roaring from the clouds and his weapon is the thunderbolt. His mother is the goddess ASERAH. During Hellenic times he was predominantly worshiped at Ptolemais and Hierapolis. His Syrian consort is ATARGATIS, who overshadowed him in local popularity at Hierapolis. Statues of the two deities were carried in procession to the sea twice yearly. According to the Jewish writer Josephus, Hadad also enjoyed a major cult following at Damascus in the eighth and ninth centuries BC. By the third century BC the Hadad-Atargatis cult had extended to Egypt, when he becomes identified as the god SUTEKH. In the Greek tradition his consort becomes HERA.See also ADAD.... |
"Kabirim" | Arabic | Phoenician name for the Kabiri |
| God name "Kotar" | Western Semitic / Syrian | Blacksmith god. Identified in the Ugaritic (Ras Samra) texts as building a palace for the god BAAL and forging his weapons for the conflict against the sea god YAMM. Known also from Phoenician inscriptions. Also Kosar, Chusor, KINYRAS.... |
| God name "MOT (death)" | Canaanite / Phoenician / northern Israel, Lebanon / Syrian coastal regions | God of natural adversity. ot is the Canaanite representation of adversity in the natural world. He lives in a pit within the earth and is responsible for its annual death from drought and heat: he has scorched the olive, the produce of the earth and the fruit of the trees. He engages in the clåśśic confrontation with the Canaanite hero and national god, BAAL. Though the duel results in Baal's demise, his death is avenged by his twin sister ANAT, who slays Mot, then cleaves, winnows, burns and grinds him with a millstone, in what appears to be a ritual allied to the sowing of seed and harvesting (see OSIRIS). Baal is later restored. The conflict probably formed the basis of an annual ritual drama at the Canaanite New Year which was held in the autumn. In the texts Mot is the son of Il and his mother is AS'ERAH (ATHIRAT).... |
| God name "Melqart" | Tyre | Melkart, the tutelary god of the Phoenician city of Tyre. |
| God name "Mikal" | Western Semitic / Phoenician | Local god. The cult was followed strongly on Cyprus. Some authorities believe he was invoked as a plague god.... |
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