Baʻalat or Baʻalat Gebal ( phn, 𐤁𐤏‎𐤋𐤕 𐤂𐤁𐤋 ''BʿLT GBL'', literally "Lady of Byblos"), was the goddess of the city of

Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 880 ...

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

in ancient times. She was sometimes known to the Greeks as Baaltis or

Atargatis Atargatis (; grc, Ἀτάργατις, translit=Atárgatis or arc, , translit=ʿtrʿth; syc, ܬܪܥܬܐ, translit=Tarʿaṯā) was the chief goddess of northern Syria in Classical antiquity. Ctesias also used the name Derketo ( grc-koi, Δε� ...

. Baʻalat Gebal was generally identified with the pan- Semitic goddess ʻAshtart (

Astarte Astarte (; , ) is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess Ashtart or Athtart (Northwest Semitic), a deity closely related to Ishtar (East Semitic), who was worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name i ...

) and, like ʻAshtart, equated with the Greek goddess

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include ...

. However,

Sanchuniathon Sanchuniathon (; Ancient Greek: ; probably from Phoenician: , "Sakon has given"), also known as Sanchoniatho the Berytian, was a Phoenician author. His three works, originally written in the Phoenician language, survive only in partial paraphras ...

presents Baʻalat Gebal as a sister of ʻAshtart and

Asherah Asherah (; he, אֲשֵׁרָה, translit=Ăšērā; uga, 𐎀𐎘𐎗𐎚, translit=ʾAṯiratu; akk, 𒀀𒅆𒋥, translit=Aširat; Qatabanian language, Qatabanian: ') in ancient Semitic religion, is a fertility goddess who appears in a ...

, and calls Baʻalat Gebal by the name ''Dione'', meaning that he identified her either with Asherah or with the mother of Greek Aphrodite, the Titan goddess

Dione Dione may refer to: Astronomy *106 Dione, a large main belt asteroid *Dione (moon), a moon of Saturn *Helene (moon), a moon of Saturn sometimes referred to as "Dione B" Mythology *Dione (Titaness), a Titaness in Greek mythology *Dione (mythology) ...

. According to

, Baaltis/Dione, like Asherah and ʻAshtart, was the sister of 'El and they had daughters together. He states that it was El who gave the city of Byblos to her. Baʻalat Gebal was distinguished in iconography from ʻAshtart or other aspects of ʻAshtart or similar goddesses by two, tall, upright feathers in her headdress. The temple of Baʻalat Gebal in Byblos was built around

2700 BC The 27th century BC was a century that lasted from the year 2700 BC to 2601 BC. Events *c. 2750–2600 BC: Early Dynastic II Period in Mesopotamia. *c. 2700 BC: The beginning of statuary in Egypt, with shale and limestone statues of Khasekhemwy ...

. Dedications from Egyptians begin appearing from the

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

to the 6th Egyptian dynasties. Two of these inscriptions equate Baʻalat Gebal with the Egyptian goddess

Hathor Hathor ( egy, ḥwt-ḥr, lit=House of Horus, grc, Ἁθώρ , cop, ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ, Meroitic: ) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky ...

Frank Moore Cross Frank Moore Cross Jr. (1921–2012) was the Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages Emeritus at Harvard University, notable for his work in the interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, his 1973 ''magnum opus'' ''Canaanite Myth and ...

writes that at

Sinai Sinai commonly refers to: * Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God Sinai may also refer to: * Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...

''Baʻalat'' seems to have referred to Hathor and possibly to Qudšu (see

Qetesh Qetesh (also Qadesh, Qedesh, Qetesh, Kadesh, Kedesh, Kadeš or Qades ) was a goddess who was incorporated into the ancient Egyptian religion in the late Bronze Age. Her name was likely developed by the Egyptians based on the Semitic root ''Q-D ...

), who is Asherah.

Bibliography

Jean-Pierre Thiollet Jean-Pierre Thiollet (; born 9 December 1956) is a French writer and journalist. Primarily living in Paris, he is the author of numerous books and one of the national leaders of the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CEDI), a ...

, ''Je m'appelle Byblos'' (My name is Byblos), H & D, 2005.

References

External links

Roman statue of Ba‘alat Gebal - Silk Road Seattle, University of Washington

Phoenician mythology West Semitic goddesses Astarte {{Phoenicia-stub