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Ba‘alat Gebal

Ba‘alat Gebal

Ba‘alat Gebal, 'Lady of Byblos', was the goddess of the city of Byblos, Phoenicia in ancient times. She was sometimes known to the Greeks as Baaltis or Atargatis.[1][2]

Ba‘alat Gebal was generally identified with the pan-Semitic goddess ‘Ashtart (Astarte) and, like ‘Ashtart, equated with the Greek goddess Aphrodite. However, Sanchuniathon presents Ba‘alat Gebal as a sister of ‘Ashtart and Asherah, and calls Ba‘alat Gebal by the name Dione, meaning that he identified her either with Asherah or with the mother of Greek Aphrodite, the Titan goddess Dione. According to Sanchuniathon, Baaltis/Dione, like Asherah and ‘Ashtart, was a sister and wife of 'El. He states that she bore daughters to El and that it was El who gave the city of Byblos to her.

Ba‘alat Gebal was distinguished in iconography from ‘Ashtart or other aspects of ‘Ashtart or similar goddesses by two, tall, upright feathers in her headdress.

The temple of Ba‘alat Gebal in Byblos was built around 2700 BC. Dedications from Egyptians begin appearing from the second to the 6th Egyptian dynasties. Two of these inscriptions equate Ba‘alat Gebal with the Egyptian goddess Hathor. Frank Moore Cross writes that at Sinai Ba‘alat seems to have referred to Hathor and possibly to Qudšu (see Qetesh), who is Asherah.[3]

Fertile Crescent
myth series
Palm tree symbol.svg
Mesopotamian
Levantine
Arabian
Near Eastern Religions
The Levant
  • El
  • Elyon
  • Hadad
  • Adon
  • Anat
  • Arsu
  • Asherah
  • Astarte
  • Atargatis
  • Azizos
  • Baal
  • Ba`alat Gebal
  • Berith
  • Dagon
  • Elohim
  • Eshmun
  • Kubaba
  • Liluri
  • Manuzi
  • Mot
  • Shaddai
  • Salem
  • Yahweh
  • Yam
  • Yarikh

References

[1]
Citation Link//www.jstor.org/stable/25152861"The Role of the Temple of Ba'alat Gebal as Intermediary between Egypt and Byblos during the Old Kingdom". JSTOR 25152861. Missing or empty |url= (help)
Sep 26, 2019, 2:42 PM
[2]
Citation Linkwww.britishmuseum.org"Bronze figure of Ba'alat Gebal". The British Museum. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
Sep 26, 2019, 2:42 PM
[3]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comFrank Moore Cross (30 June 2009). Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel. Harvard University Press. pp. 28–. ISBN 978-0-674-03008-4. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
Sep 26, 2019, 2:42 PM
[4]
Citation Linkdepts.washington.eduRoman statue of Ba‘alat Gebal - Silk Road Seattle, University of Washington
Sep 26, 2019, 2:42 PM
[5]
Citation Linkwww.hethert.orgTemple of Ba‘alat Gebal
Sep 26, 2019, 2:42 PM
[6]
Citation Linkwww.jstor.org25152861
Sep 26, 2019, 2:42 PM
[7]
Citation Linkwww.britishmuseum.org"Bronze figure of Ba'alat Gebal"
Sep 26, 2019, 2:42 PM
[8]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comCanaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel
Sep 26, 2019, 2:42 PM
[9]
Citation Linkdepts.washington.eduRoman statue of Ba‘alat Gebal - Silk Road Seattle, University of Washington
Sep 26, 2019, 2:42 PM
[10]
Citation Linkwww.hethert.orgTemple of Ba‘alat Gebal
Sep 26, 2019, 2:42 PM
[11]
Citation Linken.wikipedia.orgThe original version of this page is from Wikipedia, you can edit the page right here on Everipedia.Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Additional terms may apply.See everipedia.org/everipedia-termsfor further details.Images/media credited individually (click the icon for details).
Sep 26, 2019, 2:42 PM