Baal Cycle Essay

Introduction The Baal Cycle myth, from the city of Ugarit, showcases the storm god Baal Hadad, and his quest to gain status and power as a young, ambitious god. According to the Baal Cycle myth, Baal is the son of the god El, who is the head of the pantheon in Ugaritic mythology. The myth was written around 1500 BCE, or during the Late Bronze Age, which was during the height of the city of Ugarit, a trade city located on the Mediterranean coast. Baal’s story starts when Baal is a young storm god with limited power in the overall Ugaritic pantheon, where his father is the head, and many older, chaotic gods having lots of influence. After being told by El that he has to work for Yamm, the god of the sea. Instead, Baal decides he must fight and

Saphon also has connections to the powers that the storm god holds. It has been suggested that the authors of this myth chose Mt. Saphon as Baal’s home due to its rainy or stormy nature (Vidal, 2004). They suggest that this is also connected to local agriculture due to the rains that Baal brings. Connecting his powers to this, they are able to connect Mt. Saphon to the development of their agriculture. With Baal being powerful, praise of Baal would likely bring more rain, therefore supporting agriculture. However, it should be noted that Baal is likely not a fertility god, and that the storms Baal brings would not always be the best for the local population. Mt. Saphon is still an important location in the Baal myth due to what it meant to the Ugarit culture, and its connection to the heavens and rest of the gods. Baal in Other Myths and Cultures Baal is present in other myths and stories in many of the neighboring kingdoms and societies during the Late Bronze Age. One example of this is in the Hebrew Bible, where he is mentioned numerous times. However, the biblical writers are not as kind to him as the authors of the Baal Cycle myth. They often use him as the other god, and put Yahweh above