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Could this stone
monument of Baal have been the same image that many Israelites
worshipped?
Baal, the storm god, is seen on this Stele unleashing a storm. He is
holding a club in his right hand and a spear in his left like a
lightning bolt, which extends upward in the form of a tree. It was found
in 1932 at the site of ancient Ugarit, known today as Ras Shamra. Baal
the was supreme male deity that was worshipped by the ancient Canaanites
and Phoenicians, just as Ashtoreth was their supreme female deity. In
many cases Baal was identified with the sun and Ashtoreth with the moon.
Baal worship was prevalent during the time of Moses, especially among
the Moabites, the Midianites, and eventually spread to the Israelites.
During the time of the Kings, the northern Kingdom of Israel were Baal
worshippers as were many of the kings of Judah. Many Temples were
erected to Baal and have been discovered by archaeologists. Places for
worship of Baal were often high places in the hills consisting of an
altar and a sacred tree, stone, or pillar.
1 Kings
16:30-33 "And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD
above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a
light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the
Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. And he
reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in
Samaria. And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD
God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before
him." "At Ugarit, El was
sovereign, but another god ran things on earth for El as his vizier.
That god’s name was Baal. At Ugarit Baal was known by several titles:
“king of the gods,” “the Most High,” “Prince Baal” (baal zbl), and—most
importantly for our discussion—“the Rider on the Clouds.”" - Wikipedia
Stela of Baal in Biblical archaeology.
Louvre Excerpt
Stèle du "Baal au foudre"
The stela depicting the storm god Baal is
the largest and the most significant of the stelae discovered at Ras
Shamra (ancient Ugarit). It was found, along with eight others, not far
from Temple de Baal by the Schaeffer archaeological mission, 1932. Four
others were discovered near the Temple of Dagon and another ten in
various locations around the city. All date to the Late Bronze Age,
eighteenth-fifteenth centuries BC.
The large stela bears the relief carving of a monumental male figure,
towering over a much smaller figure standing on a pedestal. The bearded
lion-clothed main figure is wearing a horned headdress, indicating that
he is a god. He is brandishing a club in his right arm, with left
outstretched carrying a spear, the head of which is stuck in the ground,
while vegetation sprouts out its shaft. Today it is generally agreed
that the scene depicts the god, Baal, unleashing a storm from the club
in the the traditional pose of the storm gods worshiped throughout the
Levant - the Greek god Zeus and the Roman god Jupiter would later take
up the same pose and attributes. The metaphor of the spear sprouting a
plant alludes to the beneficial effects of the rain. The small figure
crouching on the small horned altar is believed to be the king of
Ugarit, in ceremonial dress, his arms crossed in prayer and the
recipient of divine protection. The motifs carved on the two-tiered
altar on which the god stands are more difficult to interpret: is the
monstrous snake who will cause the death of Baal depicted above the
carved waves of the ocean? Or is it the horizon of mountains that
surrounded the kingdom of Ugarit, protected by Baal, whose home is "in
the innermost reaches of Mount Sapon."
Ugarit was an ancient cosmopolitan port city, sited on the Mediterranean
coast of northern Syria a few kilometers north of the modern city of
Latakia. Itsent tribute to Egypt and maintained trade and diplomatic
connections with Cyprus (called Alashiya), documented in the archives
recovered from the site and corroborated by Mycenaean and Cypriot
pottery found there. The polity was at its height from ca. 1450 BC until
1200 BC. Paris -
Musée du Louvre
British Museum Excerpt:
Bronze Figure of Baal
Canaanite, about
1400-1200 BC
From Syria
The god Baal with
raised right arm
This figure is
typical of bronzes from Syria in the second half of the second
millennium BC. Although clearly broken, his pointed cap and
raised right arm suggest that this is a representation of the
god Baal, one of the major deities of the Canaanites. He would
usually be wielding a club, but this example may have held a
smaller object, perhaps a thunderbolt. The eyes were originally
inlaid and the dowel and hole are modern.
The god Baal
embodied royal power and authority. Much of our knowledge about
Canaanite gods comes from the local Canaanite literature,
particularly from the archive of cuneiform tablets from the site
of Ugarit. The Canaanite gods and goddesses continued to be
worshipped during the first millennium BC, though some of their
functions changed. They were worshipped wherever the Canaanites
(Phoenicians) established trading colonies across the
Mediterranean.
also see:
Stele Showing the Storm-God Baal
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