Introduction
During the period of ancient Israel’s entry and settlement into the Promised Land, after their exile in Egypt and forty years wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites often interacted with the Baal worshiping Canaanites who already lived there. This animistic worship form was the primary religion among the many tribes of Canaan during those early years and throughout the time of the Judges. Baal worship was the most predominant non-biblical religious system that impacted Israelite culture during a large period of its history. The various Canaanite groups in the land at that time included the Sidonians, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. The Philistines also worshiped the pantheon of gods that included Baal, though under a different name (see Dagon below). Additionally, Baal worship heavily influenced the Israelite population during the reign of some of Israel’s kings, particularly in the Northern Kingdom. The influence of Baal worship in Israel primarily took the form of significant syncretization with the worship of YAHWEH.
History
Baal was the supreme god of the ancient Phoenicians and Canaanites. The word baal, itself, means “lord,” and its plural form is baalim. As for his special powers, Baal was understood to be the storm god who was responsible for fertility. It was believed that he enabled the earth to produce crops, and for people to produce children.
Seemingly, Baal worship began in the lands of Phoenicia and Canaan as an expression of an animistic worldview. From there, it spread to Egypt and throughout the entire Mediterranean region as the Phoenicians colonized various countries. While variations of the name Baal is found in different locations, Baal is understood to be a single god who is represented in various places as local manifestations.
The Canaanite culture originated around 2,200 B.C., during the same time period when the Babylonian culture emerged. Its emergence was associated with the Semitic Amorite invasion of the region during that era. By around 1800 B.C., the Babylonians had settled in Mesopotamia, and the Canaanites and Phoenicians along the Mediterranean Sea.
Much of what we now know about Baal worship was found in tablets that were discovered by archaeologists in the Canaanite city of Ugarit. Among other things, these tablets described the Canaanite gods. It appears that the contents of the tablets were dictated by the chief priest of Ugarit to a scribe between 1375 and 1345 B.C.
While the word Baal generically meant, “The Lord,” it came to be used as a proper name by the third millennium B.C. This storm and fertility god was, early on, also identified as Hadad. As the cult of Hadad became more important, the belief emerged that his true name was too holy to be mentioned out loud by anyone other than the high priest. With that, the common people began to simply refer to him as Baal (Lord). By the 1st millennium B.C., enough separation had been created between the two names that both Hadad and Baal began being used as a proper name. Hadad was the chief god of the Aramaeans, while Baal was the same among the Phoenicians and Canaanites.
Baal played an important part in the history of Israel, and the name “Baal” is found about 90 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. Baal worship was especially prominent during the time of King Ahab, as his wife, Jezabel, attempted to make Baal worship a part of Israelite religious belief. Jezabel was the daughter of Ithobaal I of Sidon, the ruler of the Phoenician empire. She married Ahab as a means of tying Israel and Phoenicia together politically. When she moved to Israel, she brought her religion with her and did her utmost to integrate it into Israelite society.
Perhaps the most well known story about the clash between the worship of Baal and the God of Israel is found in 1 Kings 18 where the prophet Elijah battled with Jezebel’s Baal priests. The fact that Baal failed to light his followers’ sacrifice and Yahweh was able to do it, showed the superiority of Israel’s God over Baal. The fact that it began to rain after that event showed even more powerfully that Yahweh had power over the rain, whereas the rain god (Baal) did not.
Another prominent story in the Bible where a clash between Israel’s God and Baal occurred was in the story of Samson. Samson’s battle was against the Philistines who worshiped Dagon. While the Philistines had different names for their gods than the Canaanites, it was the same worship system, and in their system Dagon was the same as Baal’s father, El.
The Israelites struggled with Baal worship up until the time of the Babylonian exile. This struggle was most prominent in the northern Kingdom, but existed somewhat in the Southern Kingdom as well. After the exile in 538 B.C., the Israelites largely put aside Baal worship. There were periodic issues with the religion after that time, but it never became the serious problem it had been before. After those days, the Jewish religion latched firmly onto the monotheism associated with the worship of YAHWEH.
Authority
There are no scriptures, as such, that Baal believers looked to as divine sources of authority.
As an animistic belief system, the ultimate authority source for Baal worship was the religious tradition passed down from generation to generation. Those who invented this worship pattern did so based on their interpretation of and interaction with events in the world, then passed down their beliefs and practices to succeeding generations as oral tradition in the form of stories and legends. The religious specialists who were the keepers of this information in each generation were the priests of Baal.
Evidence for the Authority
Baal worship has no objective source of authority. It is an animistic belief system that depended on the beliefs and observations of those who were adherents. The understanding of reality in this belief system is based on subjective perceptions, anecdotal stories, and traditions passed down through generations; all of which depended upon the presuppositions of an animistic worldview. No objective evidence supports the validity of Baal worship.
Worldview Beliefs
God
According to Canaanite mythology, Baal was the son of the chief god El, and his mother was Asherah, the goddess of the sea. Baal was considered to be the most powerful of all gods, even more powerful than his father El.
In the Canaanite religion, Baal was worshiped primarily as the storm god (though there are variations in some places). In the imagery that has been found by archeologists, he is usually depicted holding a lightning bolt. In addition to his status as storm God, he is also worshiped as a fertility god who was able to make humans fertile in order to bear children. Of particular interest to the people of that day was the belief that he was the bringer of rain and provider of fertility to the land.
Baal worship is an animistic belief system that associates various gods with functions that occur in nature. As an animistic faith, it contains the belief that humans and the gods interact symbiotically, with each side helping the other. The Baal myth provides humans with the assurance that Baal will supply order and stability in the physical world. Humans, for their part, assist the gods by their service to them.
As already mentioned, Baal was understood to be the rain or storm god who enabled the earth to produce crops. His power also extended to human fertility. Other gods in the pantheon of this religion included the chief God El, Baal’s father, and his mother Asherah, the goddess of the sea. In spite of the fact that Baal was El’s son, he was considered to be the most powerful of all gods. Other prominent gods included those associated with the sea, the stars, love, war, and the underworld.
Man
Human beings, in Baal worship, are believed to be material expressions of the universal life energy all living things share.
Salvation
In Baal worship, salvation does not concern forgiveness or overcoming sin. Rather, it addresses practical ways to effectively make it through this life. A lack of rain was considered a threat to survival. As an animistic belief system, a lack of rain was a sign to the people that they had done something to make Baal unhappy. Salvation, then, is thought of in terms of how Baal took care of the people on earth. When crops were abundant, Baal worshipers praised and thanked him for the abundant rain he provided. When it didn’t rain, they sought to find out what they had done to offend him and make it right.
Other Beliefs and Practices
The Gods Associated with Baal Worship
El – El is the supreme creator god of the Canaanites and the father of Baal, as well as all of the other gods and of men. He is understood to be the god of the earth and the air, and is represented by a bull.
Dagon – Dagon is the Amorite name for El. He is considered the grain or vegetation god.
Asherah – Asherah is El’s wife, and the mother of Baal and of all the other gods. She is recognized as the goddess of the sea and has life giving abilities. She was the main goddess of Sidon and Tyre on the Mediterranean coast.
Baal – Baal is the rain (storm) god, and in some accounts is also associated with the sun.
Hadad – Hadad is the Amorite name for Baal.
Yamm – Yamm is the god of the sea.
Mot – Mot is the god of death and the underworld. He is also called the god of the morning star. After his failure to replace Baal after a battle, he was made ruler of the underworld.
Ashtoreth – Ashtoreth is Baal’s sister, a fertility goddess associated with the stars. She is also referred to as the queen of heaven.
Anath (Astarte or Anat) – Anath is another of Baal’s sisters and was the goddess of love and war. In the literature she is sometimes described as a virgin, yet also as a wet nurse and lover. It seems that the term “virgin” had a slightly different nuance than the current term, with the meaning that she was eligible and desirable for marriage.
Tannin – Tannin was the dragon of the sea.
Loran – Loran was the serpent with seven heads.
Shapash – Shapash was the sun goddess, and was the judge of the gods.
Horon – Horon was an obscure Canaanite god. It is possible that he was a son of Astarte and a god of the underworld.
Kothar-wa-hasis – Kothar-wa-hasis was the craftsman of the gods. His name means “skillful and wise.”
Note: There is some overlap or difference in the various gods based on local traditions as reflected in the list above.
Other Canaanite gods very similar to Baal (and perhaps even local versions of Baal) included Melkart, the god of Tyre; Chemosh, the god of Moab; Milcom, Molek, or Moloch, the Ammonite god; Tammuz, worshiped in Syria; and Dagon, worshiped by the Philistines.
The Mythology of Baal
For ancient peoples in the Canaanite region, the lack of a god’s production was evidence that he was either dead or imprisoned. The basic stories of Baal explain the causes of the wet and dry seasons where the dry summers occur during Baal’s annual time spent in the underworld, while his return in the fall brings rain and storms that revive the land.
The Canaanite myth begins with some of the gods complaining to El (Baal’s father) that Baal does not have a great house to live in. With that, El allows him to build one on the mountain of the gods – Mt. Zaphon (or Mt. Saphon). Mt. Zaphon is located at the mouth of the Orontes River near the border of Turkey and Syria.
The primary myth goes that there was rivalry among the gods and a fight broke out between Yamm, the god of the sea, and Baal, the god of the rain. With the help of his sisters Anat (the goddess of war) and Astarte (the goddess of earth and fertility), Baal was able to defeat Yamm and the other gods who were aligned with him (particularly Tannin, the dragon of the sea, and Loran, the serpent with seven heads). Following that, the other gods built Baal a magnificent house so that he could be at rest and provide abundant rain for the earth.
However, Baal was then challenged by Mot (the god of death and the underworld). Mot defeated Baal in this battle and took him into the underworld. For some reason that is unknown (part of the tablet relating this story is missing) Mot convinces Baal to become his vassal and come to the underworld where he is killed. However, his sister Anat along with Shapash, the sun god, went searching and found him. Shapash, using magic, revived Baal, who then fought to leave the underworld. However, every year Baal must return for a time. It is this going to the underworld and returning each year that accounts for the dry and rainy season on earth.
Sacred Prostitution
Because the land of Canaan was primarily agricultural, the fertility of the land was of great importance. Since Baal was the rain god, many looked to him as the source for the production of good crops. But the scope of Baal worship extended beyond the fertility of the land. It also related to human fertility and involved religious rites connected with human sexuality. The rites of Baal worship involved magic and sacred prostitution – including both male and female prostitutes. The mythology behind the prostitution included the belief that having sexual relations with temple prostitutes would bring vitality to Baal in his struggle with Mot. Baal worshipers also believed that the sexual acts by both male and female temple prostitutes aroused Baal, who then brought rain to make Mother Earth fertile. The idea was that the human sexual act to produce the fruit of the womb was connected to the rain watering the earth to produce agricultural fruit. This kind of symbiotic interaction between the gods and humans is a prominent characteristic of animistic belief systems.
Human Sacrifice
Human sacrifice was not something that was always practiced in Baal worship, but was prescribed by the priests at times of great turbulence; like war, earthquakes, drought, or famine. This usually involved the sacrificing of one’s firstborn child, though there were times and places where people would buy children to sacrifice rather than use their own. There is evidence of special ceremonies during extreme crisis where as many as 200 children of the most affluent and powerful families in a city were sacrificed. During one particular political crisis in 310 B.C., some 500 infants were killed.
The sacrifices would be made on the arms of an image of Baal made of brass. The Priests of Baal would light fires that would heat up the brass figures. The children were then placed on the burning hot outstretched hands of Baal.
In the worship rituals, the priests often practiced rites of wild abandon that involved loud yelling and self-mutilation. While doing this, they would beat a drum and play loud musical instruments to drown out the cries of the babies and their tormented parents.
© 2018 Freddy Davis