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The Ashavana Archives

On Ba’al

Baʿal was also used as a proper name by the third millennium BC, when he appears in a list of deities at Abu Salabikh.[17] Most modern scholarship asserts that this Baʿal—usually distinguished as “The Lord” (הבעלHa-Baʿal)—was identical with the storm and fertility god Hadad;[17][27][20] it also appears in the form Baʿal Haddu.[21][28] Scholars propose that, as the cult of Hadad increased in importance, his true name came to be seen as too holy for any but the high priest to speak aloud and the alias “Lord” (“Baʿal”) was used instead, as “Bel” was used for Marduk among the Babylonians and “Adonai” for Yahweh among the Israelites.