Below is a list of the major deities from Ugaritic and early Hebrew sources (c. 1500 – 800 BCE), what they represented, and how they were typically depicted in iconography, inscriptions, or mythic descriptions.EL “Father of the Gods,” High GodDomain: Sky father, creation, wisdom, judgment, head of the divine council.Appearance:>Elderly man with a long beard, wearing a tall conical or horned crown.>Often enthroned, holding a staff or scepter.>Associated with bull iconography (bulls beside his throne or horns on his headdress).>Symbols: Bull, throne, scepter.>Titles: “El Elyon” (God Most High), “Father of Years,” “Kindly El.”He was the patriarchal god from whom other deities descended, and later, Yahweh absorbed his titles and identity.Baal (Hadad) Storm & Fertility GodDomain: Storms, rain, fertility, seasonal cycles, kingship.Appearance:>Young, strong man wearing a horned helmet.>Often shown brandishing a thunderbolt or club, sometimes standing on a bull.>Sometimes with a short kilt, chest bare, heroic stance.>Symbols: Thunderbolt, bull, club, mountain.>Titles: “Rider on the Clouds,” “Lord of the Earth.”Baal was the most popular god of common people. His cult rivaled Yahweh’s in ancient Israel.
Yam God of the SeaDomain: Seas, chaos, primordial waters.Appearance:>Often represented as a serpentine or monstrous sea god.>Rarely anthropomorphic; sometimes a man emerging from waves.>Symbols: Waves, serpents, sea creatures.>Titles: “Prince Sea,” “Judge River.”Yam was a chaotic god, often cast as a rival to Baal in mythic battles representing order vs. chaos.Mot God of Death & the UnderworldDomain: Death, decay, drought, underworld.Appearance:>Depicted as a gaunt, skeletal or shadowy figure.>Sometimes as a gaping mouth or devouring figure in Ugaritic texts.>Symbols: Underworld pit, skeletal imagery, jaws.>Titles: “Lord of the Underworld.”Mot is not a devil figure but a personification of death itself, in tension with Baal’s life-giving rain.
Shachar & Shalim Twin Gods of Dawn and DuskDomain: Dawn (Shachar) and dusk (Shalim).Appearance:>Often depicted as twin youths, radiant and androgynous.>Symbols of light, rebirth, and celestial cycles.>Symbols: Morning star, evening star, sun rays.>Titles: “Sons of El.”Their names survive in Hebrew: “Shachar” = dawn, and “Shalem” may be linked to Jerusalem (Yerushalem).Asherah (Athirat) Mother Goddess & Consort of El Domain: Fertility, motherhood, sea, protector of life.Appearance:>Depicted as a noble woman with a crown, often bare-breasted (symbolizing fertility).>Sometimes with a tree of life motif.>Wooden poles (asherim) were sacred to her.>Symbols: Tree, pole, lion, dove.>Titles: “Lady of the Sea,” “Mother of the Gods.”Asherah was worshipped widely in ancient Israel. Archaeological inscriptions even say: “Yahweh and his Asherah.” Later biblical authors erased or demonized her cult.
Shapash Sun GoddessDomain: The sun, justice, light, guide of souls to the underworld.Appearance:>Female solar figure with a solar disk crown.>Sometimes riding a chariot or standing with raised hands.>Symbols: Solar disk, chariot, rays of light.>Titles: “Torch of the Gods.”Shapash mediated between the living and the dead — the sun’s light entering the underworld at night.Yarikh Moon GodDomain: The moon, cycles of time, fertility.Appearance:>Young male god with a crescent moon headdress.>Sometimes depicted holding a vessel or staff.>Symbols: Crescent moon, bulls, fertility.>Titles: “Illuminator of the Heavens.”Yarikh was also connected to vegetation cycles and night protection.
Resheph God of Plagues and WarDomain: Plague, war, destruction, healing.Appearance:>Warrior god, armed with a spear or bow.>Crown of gazelle horns, sometimes flames.>Symbols: Spear, gazelle horns, fire.>Titles: “Lord of the Arrow.”Resheph was both feared and invoked for protection against disease.Anat Warrior & Love GoddessDomain: War, hunting, love, and maidenhood.Appearance:>Young woman, often armed with a sword or spear.>Sometimes shown standing on a lion or surrounded by enemies.>Occasionally depicted nude or semi-nude to reflect dual love/war aspects.>Symbols: Sword, lion, lotus, shield.>Titles: “Virgin Anat,” “Mistress of Heroes.”Anat was a brutal goddess — famous for slaughtering enemies, but also protective and loving.
Astarte (Ashtart) Goddess of Sex, Love, and PowerDomain: Sexuality, fertility, war, political power.Appearance:>Radiant female figure, sometimes with horned headdress.>Often nude or semi-nude, emphasizing sensuality and authority.>Symbols: Star, crescent, lion, lotus.>Titles: “Queen of Heaven.”Astarte’s cult was widespread, influencing later depictions of Ishtar, Aphrodite, and Venus.Kothar-wa-Khasis Craftsman GodDomain: Smithing, crafts, magic, engineering.Appearance:>Bearded man with artisan tools (hammer, chisel).>Sometimes wearing a craftsman’s apron.>Symbols: Hammer, chisel, workshop.>Titles: “Skillful and Wise.”He was like the Canaanite equivalent of Hephaestus or Ptah.
Lotan (Leviathan)Sea Serpent / Chaos MonsterDomain: Chaos, the deep sea.Appearance:>A seven-headed serpent or dragon.>Massive, coiled, primordial creature.>Symbols: Serpent, ocean depths.>Titles: “Twisting Serpent,” “Fleeing Serpent.”Lotan was defeated by Baal in myth — a clear prototype for later biblical Leviathan imagery.Dagon Grain & Agriculture GodDomain: Agriculture, grain, fertility of the earth.Appearance:>Bearded male figure, sometimes with fish-like features (in later Philistine syncretism).>Grain stalks in hand.>Symbols: Grain, fish, plow.>Titles: “Lord of Grain.”Dagon was a major deity in the Levant and among the Philistines.
Yahweh actually entered the pantheon a little later than many of the other Canaanite deities. Unlike El, Baal, or Asherah (who are well documented at Ugarit), Yahweh seems to have been a southern regional god who eventually got adopted into the Canaanite divine structure, in the earliest layers of belief, Yahweh was seen as a son of El.Here’s a complete profile for him in that original context Yahweh (YHW / Yahu) Storm God, Son of El (Later High God)Domain (originally):>Storms, war, protector of nomadic tribes, wilderness.>Associated with mountains, storms, and divine vengeance or deliverance.>Over time, he absorbed El’s role and became a universal creator god.Origin:>Early mentions of Yhw or Yahu appear in Egyptian texts from the Late Bronze Age (~14th–13th c. BCE), connected to Edom, Midian, Seir, and the southern deserts.>These regions were outside the main Canaanite city-states. Yahweh was probably a tribal storm deity brought north.Divine status:>In early Israelite religion, Yahweh is one of the bene elohim (sons of El).>Deuteronomy 32:8–9 (Dead Sea Scrolls version) explicitly shows: “When Elyon (Most High) divided up the nations… He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God (bene elohim).>Yahweh’s portion was his people, Jacob his inheritance.”This places Yahweh under the authority of El Elyon in the earliest theology.
Appearance:Early Israelites likely saw Yahweh in the same visual way other Canaanite gods were imagined, not as a purely abstract being. The imagery of him riding on a cloud, appearing in storm and fire, and dwelling on a mountain all come from this period. It’s only later, during the Exilic and Second Temple periods, that Yahweh became the invisible, sole, all-powerful God.Often envisioned like other West Semitic storm gods (similar to Baal):>Young or middle-aged warrior, with a beard, wearing a horned crown or helmet.>Holding a thunderbolt or spear, sometimes riding on clouds or storms.>Depicted as standing on mountains, symbolizing authority and storm-bringing.Later Hebrew texts describe him as invisible and enthroned in fire or clouds (e.g., Sinai theophany).Symbols:>Storm cloud, lightning bolt, mountain, fire, whirlwind.>Bulls may also have been sacred to him in early cult (like El and Baal).>Sacred mountains: Sinai, Seir, Paran.Consort:>Asherah, in early Israelite inscriptions.>Inscriptions from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud (8th c. BCE) say: “Blessed be you by Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherah.”>This confirms Yahweh had a divine partner before later theology erased her.Titles:>“Yahweh of Hosts” (YHWH Tseva’ot) — Commander of divine armies.>“Rider on the Clouds” (borrowed from Baal titles).>“God of Israel” (after tribal adoption).Transformation:>Son of El: a storm god assigned to Israel.>Supreme God of Israel: elevated above other gods.>Fusion with El: Yahweh adopts El’s identity as “Most High.”>Monotheism: other gods demoted to angels, demons, or erased entirely.
>>41275677OK?
>>41275763You don’t see how important this is? Proves Christianity to be false.
>>41275900not quite1 Kings 18:20-40
>>41275900>Proves Christianity to be false.Anyone who needs that proved to them won't believe any amount of proof.
>>41275736Yahweh sounds like the fascist god
>>41275900I don't need a proof I KNOW by just simple observation.Everything turns around abrahamics nowadays. >Oh you NEED to be either christian or muslim or jew or else you won't go to heaven but if you must deny christianity then we REALLY REALLY NEED you to be either satanist or atheist or some other form of reverse-christianity or else our mental trap won't work>Oh remember gnosticism that's just some ancient christianity cult>Remember pagans oh they just worship some marvel heroes because we turned them into a branch of christianity with jesus replaced by thor or zeus or something>Oh you want to try something eastern? Have fun sitting and jerking off in a circle with lmao weed dudesThe only things jewish hands haven't touched are native american faiths and some obscure shinto/siberian slavic rituals (which are basically just distilled versions of native american anyway)
>>41275677>Baal was the most popular god of common people. His cult rivaled Yahweh’s in ancient Israel.Actually OP, the rabbit hole goes deeper. Baal is Yahweh. There's more I can show, but this is just a start for you.From John Day's masterly study of over twenty-five years in regard to the impact of Canaanite religion and mythology on ancient Israel and the Old Testament Bible.Day writes in Y𝘢hweh 𝘢nd the Gods 𝘢nd Goddesses of C𝘢n𝘢𝘢n:Yahweh's kingship in this psalm is manifested in the thunder, just like that of Baal, and the thunder is represented as his voice, as was also the case with Baal (cf. KTU 1.4.VII.29-31). Yahweh's lordship over the cosmic waters (vv. 3,10) and exaltation over the other gods of the divine assembly (v.1) is also ultimately derived from Baal mythology. There can thus be no doubt that Psalm 29 stands remarkably close to the circle of mythological ideas surrounding Baal as they are attested in the Ugaritic texts. A number of scholars, in particular H.L. Ginsberg, T.H. Gaster, F.M. Cross and A. Fitzgerald, go so far as to maintain that Psalm 29 is a Canaanite psalm taken over wholesale, with the simple substitution of the name of Yahweh instead of the name of Baal for the deity concerned. Note: Baal is traditionally regarded as a demon in Abrahamic religion, basically the religion of Baal was blanketed over by another God, the Jewish/Christian one, and thus he becomes just another bad guy when rewritten into the Biblical texts. But the reality is that the text of the Bible itself was copied from the Baal texts which predate both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoW82Lb96vU
>>41276238The appropriation of existing Baal literature by yahwists doesn't mean that Baal and yahweh are the same guy.