Abstract

El appears to give in to the desires of Prince Sea, giving Ba’l is the only member of the divine council who is not cowed. He stands by El’s throne and rants at the assembly. Nevertheless Ba’l is given to Prince Sea as his ‘perpetual slave’ and apparently Ba’l has not enough power to contest the decision. El is creator, the ancient one whose extraordinary procreative powers have populated heaven and earth. Myths of El perceive creation as theogony. Myths of Ba’l view creation as cosmogony. His three important consorts are his two sisters Asherah and Astarte and his daughter Anat. Ba’l also takes Anat as consort. All goddess belonging to Ba’l’s entourage. In the case of El, the precreation of gods and men of whom he is father. Both in Canaan and in Mesopotamia the epithets of the gods describe them, male and female, as creators of heaven and earth, creatress of all creatures, gods and men, goddess and women, formers or progenitors of the world. Yahweh was an El figure. Yahwism also owes a debt to the myths of Ba’l. In the earliest poetic sources the language depicting Yahweh as divine warrior manifest is borrowed almost directly from Canaanite descriptions of the theophany of Ba’l as storm god. In early Israel, the storm theophany was a frequent means of describing Yahwe’s mode of revelation. Ba’l’s characteristic mode of self-revelation is in the storm theophany.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.