Who Was Baal?

In the Hebrew Bible, Baal is portrayed as the great rival of Yahweh. In the Book of Kings, the prophet Elijah famously challenges the prophets of Baal to a sacrificial offerings contest that ultimately leads to their doom. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will put these Biblical narratives in the context of what is known about Canaanite and Ancient Semitic religion, and the gods worshiped with the honorific title “Ba’al” (which means “Lord”).

Join the livestream to participate in the discussion and to ask questions to our lecturer during the Q&A.

Topics covered in this lecture include:
- Polytheism in Ancient Israel
- Henotheism and monolatry
- Ugarit and the Canaanite pantheon
- The holy family: El, Asherah, Baal, Anat, Astarte
- The Baal Cycle
- The bronze age collapse
- Iron Age Israel

#AncientReligion

[centre-place]

Here are the sources for this lecture and recommended readings:

Michael D. Coogan, Mark S. Smith; Stories from Ancient Canaan; WJK

James S. Anderson; Monotheism and Yahweh’s Appropriation of Baal; T&T Clark

Mark S. Smith; The Origins of Biblical Monotheism; Oxford

Mark S. Smith; The Early History of God, Harper & Row

Yonatan Adler; The Origins of Judaism; Yale

John J. Collins; The Invention of Judaism; University of California Press

[bowhunter]

I am of Lebanese blood, my family emigrated from the city of Sidon 50 years ago. It is a fascinating place with two crusaders castles, a monastery from that era, a mosque that was built by the crusaders as a church and later converted, a Phoenician temple, among other things. The name Baal (pronounced Ba'al) is still invoked today to refer to land where the crops are naturally grown (what you call organic), and the land is never watered. Such crops like olives for example are considered the best since watering is considered to dilute the oil. I used to hear farmers referring to such crops as "ala Ba'al" which literally means grown by Baal. The term is still used till today.

[senefelder]

Everyone asks who is Baal, but no one asks how is Baal 😢

[jennodine]

This is some next-level truth-telling. Excellent insight for serious researchers.

[jayvee]

I love when I click on Centre Place videos and it's John speaking. Immediately feel relief

[Taliesin_McKnight]

55:00 the biblical section ends, and he begins talking about Baal outside the Bible. Just got reference. Excellent lecture. Thank you very much for this excellent presentation.

[fastballflakes]

Another fine Hamercopia of Knowledge tonight. I hope to see you all this Sunday 11/5/2023 for the next awesome lecture.

[devinbraun]

Excellent! One of the most worthwhile destinations on YT. Thank you so much!

[wanghui]

Thank you so much. This is a very timely lecture to understand what is happening in the Middle East right now... One really cannot understand the present without understanding the past.

[notsocrates]

I want to commend how you make biblical history come to life, this was a fascinating lecture. It is a shame these videos do not have a wider audience. You do not have to be religious to enjoy hearing these stories and histories.

[KirillBenIgor]

This guy is good, very good! I watched him on Mythvision and liked a lot. I'm a music teacher myself and respect good teachers. Community he's in (a version of Latter day's saints?) are privileged to have him. Word. Me out!

[Plainstreamer]

Big thanks for the hard and sometimes unappreciated work

[peterhook]

Listen John (Professor). You are doing the work of the Lord my friend. Thank you so much.

[riley]

I absolutely love these weekly lectures! They are so well done!

[MissMentats]

This is the only channel I can watch on 1.75x speed lol I like that 👏

[felicededuyo]

Pantheon Reduction (Abbreviated Elohim) made simple. You made it easy Sir John Hamer. Thank you.

[NickZoran]

Love this channel. Love the format. Thank you!

[akiraasmr]

After me finding out about all of this I was happy since my name is Michael named after the arch angel and after losing my faith which I kind of never really had I always had doubts and thought I was bad for not really believing in the religion of my parents now I can see my name comes from the canaanite god El.

[deloreswillis]

I love reading about biblical stories ❤ very interesting

[honeyholly]

This is great. Will definitely watch it again.