Fertile Crescent myth series
Mesopotamian
Levantine
Arabian
Mesopotamia
Primordial beings
7 gods who decree
The great gods
Demigods & heroes
Spirits & monsters
Tales from Babylon
Enûma Eliš Atra-Hasis Marduk & Sarpanit Nabu, Nintu Agasaya, Bel Qingu Semitic gods refers to the gods or deities of peoples generally classified as speaking a Semitic language. ... For other uses, see Mythology (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links Palm_tree_symbol. ... Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq. ... In the Levantine pantheon, the Elohim are the sons of El the ancient of days (olam) assembled on the divine holy place, Mount Zephon (Jebel Aqra). ... Arabian mythology is the ancient beliefs of the Arabs. ... Mesopotamia was a cradle of civilization geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq. ... The apsû (also known as abzu or engur) was the name for the mythological underground freshwater ocean in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology. ... In Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians, Anu (also An; (from Sumerian *An = sky, heaven)) was a sky-god, the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, spirits and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions. ... In Sumerian mythology, the Annuna, the fifty great gods, whose domain appears to be principally but not exclusively the underworld. ... The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Babylonia and is among the earliest known literary works. ... In Sumerian mythology, the utukku were a type of spirits or demons that could be either benevolent or evil. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mesopotamian mythology. ... The is the Babylonian or Mesopotamian creation epic. ... The 18th century BC Akkadian Atra-Hasis epic, named after its human hero, contains both a creation and a flood account, and is one of three surviving Babylonian flood stories. ... Marduk (Sumerian spelling in Akkadian: AMAR.UTU solar calf; Biblical: Merodach) was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon permanently became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi (18th century... In Babylonian mythology, Sarpanit (alternately Zarpanit, Zarpandit, Zerpanitum, Zerbanitu, or Zirbanit) is a mother goddess and the consort of the chief god, Marduk. ... It has been suggested that Nebo (god) be merged into this article or section. ... Mami, Belet-ili or Nintu is a goddess in the Babylonian epic Atra-Hasis. ... Agasaya, The Shrieker, was a Semitic war goddess who was merged into Ishtar in her identity as warrior of the sky. ... Bel, signifying lord or master, is a title rather than a genuine name, applied to various gods in Babylonian relgion. ... Kingu, also spelled Qingu, was a demon in Babylonian mythology, and the consort of the goddess Tiamat before she was slain by Marduk. ...

Bel (pronounced /beɪl/; from Akkadian bēlu), signifying "lord" or "master", is a title rather than a genuine name, applied to various gods in Babylonian religion. The feminine form is Belit 'Lady, Mistress'. Bel is represented in Greek and Latin by Belos and Belus respectively. Linguistically Bel is an East Semitic form cognate with Northwest Semitic Ba‘al with the same meaning. Akkadian (lišānum akkadÄ«tum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... A title is a prefix or suffix added to a persons name to signify either veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. ... Babylonia was a state in southern Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq, combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... Bêlit is a form of the Akkadian language word beltu or beltum (meaning lady, mistress) as used in noun compounds; it appears in titles of goddesses, such as bêlit-ili lady of the gods, an Akkadian title of Ninhursag. ... For other uses, see Latins and Latin (disambiguation). ... The East Semitic languages are one of the two major subdivisions of Semitic languages, the other being West Semitic. ... The Northwest Semitic languages form a medium-level division of the Semitic language family. ... For other uses, see Baal (disambiguation). ...

Early translators of Akkadian believed that the ideogram for the god called in Sumerian Enlil was to be read as Bel in Akkadian. This is now known to be incorrect; but one finds Bel used in referring to Enlil in older translations and discussions. Akkadian (lišānum akkadītum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... Sumerian ( native tongue) was the language of ancient Sumer, spoken in Southern Mesopotamia from at least the 4th millennium BCE. It was gradually replaced by Akkadian as a spoken language in the beginning of the 2nd millenium BCE, but continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Bel became especially used of the Babylonian god Marduk and when found in Assyrian and neo-Babylonian personal names or mentioned in inscriptions in a Mesopotamian context it can usually be taken as referring to Marduk and no other god. Similarly Belit without some disambiguation mostly refers to Bel Marduk's spouse Sarpanit. However Marduk's mother, the Sumerian goddess called Ninhursag, Damkina and Ninmah and other names in Sumerian, was often known as Belit-ili 'Lady of the Gods' in Akkadian. Marduk (Sumerian spelling in Akkadian: AMAR.UTU solar calf; Biblical: Merodach) was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon permanently became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi (18th century... In Babylonian mythology, Sarpanit (alternately Zarpanit, Zarpandit, Zerpanitum, Zerbanitu, or Zirbanit) is a mother goddess and the consort of the chief god, Marduk. ... In Sumerian mythology, Ninhursag (or Ki) was the earth and mother-goddess. ...

Of course other gods called "Lord" could be and sometimes were identified totally or in part with Bel Marduk. The god Malak-bel of Palmyra is an example, though in the later period from which most of our information comes he seems to have become very much a sun god which Marduk was not. Early morning panorama of Palmyra. ...

Similarly Zeus Belus mentioned by Sanchuniathon as born to Cronus/El in Peraea is certainly most unlikely to be Marduk. Sanchuniathon or Sanchoniathon or Sanchoniatho is the purported Phoenician author of three works in Phoenician, surviving only in partial paraphrase and summary of a Greek translation by Philo of Byblos. ... Cronus is not to be confused with Chronos, the personification of time. ... Ēl (אל) is a Northwest Semitic word and name translated into English as either god or God or left untranslated as El, depending on the context. ... Perea (the country beyond), a portion of the kingdom of Herod the Great occupying the eastern side of the Jordan River valley, from about one third the way down from the Sea of Galilee to about one third the way down the eastern shore of the Dead Sea; it did...

W. H. D. Rouse in 1940 wrote an ironic end note to Book 40 of his edition of Nonnus' Dionysiaca about a very syncretistic hymn sung by Dionysus to Tyrian Heracles, that is, to Ba‘al Melqart whom Dionysus identifies with Belus on the Euphrates (who should be Marduk!) and as a sun god: W. H. D. Rouse (1863-1950) was a pioneering British teacher who advocated the use of the Direct Method of teaching Latin and Greek. ... The Greek epic poet Nonnus (Greek Nonnos), a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian Thebaid, probably lived at the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 5th century AD. He produced the Dionysiaca, an epic tale of the god Dionysus, a paraphrase of the Gospel of John... This article is about the ancient deity. ... Melqart (less accurately Melkart, Melkarth or Melgart (Greek disposed of the letter Q (Qoppa), replacing it with additional use of K (Kappa) and G (Gamma)), Akkadian Milqartu, was the tutelary god of the Phoenician city of Tyre, as Eshmun protected Sidon. ... For the song River Euphrates by the Pixies, see Surfer Rosa. ...

... the Greeks were as firmly convinced as many modern Bible-readers that the Semites, or the Orientals generally, worshipped a god called Baal or Bel, the truth of course being that ba'al is a Semitic word for lord or master, and so applies to a multitude of gods. This "Bel," then, being an important deity, must be the sun, the more so as some of the gods bearing that title may have been really solar.

Bel is named in the Bible at Isaiah 46:1 and Jeremiah 50:2 and 51:44.

See also

• Belus
  • Belus (Babylonian)
  • Belus (Assyrian)
  • Belus (Egyptian)
• Ba‘al
• Belial
• Marduk
• Bel and the Dragon
• EN (cuneiform)

Belus in Latin or Belos in accurate Greek transliteration is one of: Persons Ba‘al: a title (lord) in northwest Semitic languages, often applied to particular gods. ... Belus or Belos in classical Greek or classical Latin texts (and later material based on them) in a Bablyonian context refers to the Babylonian god Bel Marduk. ... Belus or Belos in classical Greek or classical Latin texts (and later material based on them) in a Assyrian context refers to one or another purportedly ancient and historically nonexistent Assyrian king, such king in part at least an euhemerization of the Babylonian god Bel Marduk. ... Belus (Greek Belos) the Egyptian is in Greek Mythology a son of Poseidon by Libya. ... For other uses, see Baal (disambiguation). ... A woodcarving of Belial and some of his followers from Jacobus de Teramos book Buche Belial (1473) Belial (also Belhor, Baalial, Beliar, Belias , Beliall, Beliel; from Hebrew בְּלִיַּ֫עַל ; also named Matanbuchus, Mechembuchus, Meterbuchus in older scripts) is an evil being in Jewish apocrypha, and also a term used to characterise... Marduk (Sumerian spelling in Akkadian: AMAR.UTU solar calf; Biblical: Merodach) was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon permanently became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi (18th century... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Bible, English, King James, Bel The tale of Bel and the Dragon is from chapter 14 of the Book of Daniel. ... EN (Borger 2003 nr. ...

External links

• Bartleby: American Heritage Dictionary: Semitic Roots: b^cl