Ba’al, God of Storm Cloud   بعل، إلاهبعل، اله الصواعق والسحب   [59 x 38 cm]

Source of image: Damascus Museum, Syria
Embroidery: Janet Jameel Hamad [Silwad], Amman, Jordan
Supported by: Layfield Family, Stroud, UK

Ba’al was a title and honorific meaning “lord” in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied to gods. Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities.  However, inscriptions have shown that the name Ba’al was particularly associated with the storm and fertility god Hadad and his local manifestations.

Era: Babylonian/Persian Period (721—332 BCE)

Further reading