Who was this ancient horned, bearded fertilty god described in the Old Testament's Song of Solomon, demanding child sacrifices in lofty places in times of crisis?Find out on May 12, 8 p.m. at this fascinating online lecture!
Pay What You Wish/Donation Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/289884080087
In the pantheon of Canaan (now modern Israel) their creator god was El, with his consort, mother goddess, Athirat, walker of the sea.
El's mistress Asherah, whose followers practiced sympathetic magic via ritualized sex and eventually religious prostitution, gave birth to the fearsome ram-horned god Ba'al.
Ba'al evolved into the dominant Canaanite diety and interestingly, Asherah, became his mistress.
A storm and fertily god, Ba'al came to dominate other gods such as his major adversary Yamm, the primordial chaotic sea god, who became synonymous with Old Testament sea monster, Leviathan.
Associated with Yamm, was Lotan, the seven headed dragon/serpent who was slain by the fearsome Anat, sister (and wife) of Ba'al. A goddess of war with her necklace of human heads and belt of human hands, Anat not only dispensed with gods Mot and Lotan, but in a victory celebration, laid waste to an entire town of warriors and later copulated with her brother Ba'al disguised as a cow.
We mustn't forget Mot, the deathly prince, the god of sterility and the underworld with his cosmically large jaws and throat, a euphemism for death itself, who fiercely battled Ba'al in many legends, taking him to the underworld for a time.
Moloch, described in the Hebrew Bible, was the king god to whom child sacrifices were made.
These bloodthirsty Canaanite legends and beliefs of the early Iron and Bronze ages cross pollinated with Mesopotamian and Egyptian religions, as evidenced by their Cult of the Dead, with their customary grave offerings, and also the Greeks and Romans, with whom they traded their prized purple wool dyed from molluscs exclusive to the Canaanite coast.
Also, there is a clear connection between Vedic/Hindu gods and imagery and Baalism.
One can certainly see the origins of Christianity's Satan in the fierce and sexually potent Ba'al, hearkening back to the Old Testament which demonized the Israelites for giving equal tribute to both Yahweh and Ba'al.
Now with the discovery of the Ras Shamra cuneiform texts we can discern from a firsthand source the meaning behind the death and rebirth cycle of Ba'al and his battles for supremacy against Yamm, as a representation of "the mythological prototype of the short Syrian winter with its gales, rain, hail and tides."
Join us to hear these and other gloriously bloodthirsty myths and legends of Canaan which cross pollinated with ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian culture, and influenced the religions of the Lavant .
Dr. Rietveld is a professor at California State University, Fullerton, CA and Cal Poly, Pomona, CA of History, Anthropology and Religion. His specialties include the History of Christianity in the Early, Medieval and Byzantine periods, New Testament Studies and Greco-Roman religions. He received his PHD from Claremont School of Religion and is the author of two books.
Pay What You Wish Donation to gain entry to the Zoom talk. Video available afterwards for viewing at your leisure. To view video please allow 10 days for it to appear on the Dr. Rietveld Salon Lectures You Tube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_1JGODdHtgwetVjmk9CRXQ
Event Venue
Online