Who is Baal?

Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik

The name Baal has been appearing a lot lately, especially in Western media, in the context of war between Iran and Israel. Known as a false god in the Bible, his images are being burnt in public. Western capitalists are being accused of worshipping him secretly as part of a demon cult. Conspiracy theories aside, who is Baal in mythology?

His tale was told over 3000 years ago, in the region now associated with Lebanon, Palestine and Israel. The story opens with a contest for supremacy. Yam, the sea god, embodiment of chaos and untamed waters, demands that the high god El hand over Baal as a slave. El, old and passive, seems inclined to comply. But Baal refuses submission. With weapons forged by the craftsman god Kothar-wa-Khasis, Baal confronts Yam in battle. He strikes him down, subduing the sea and establishing himself as champion of cosmic order. This victory makes Baal the natural candidate for kingship among the gods.

Yet Baal lacks one thing essential for divine sovereignty: a palace. Without a house, he cannot fully claim kingship. His sister Anat and mother-figure Asherah intercede with El on his behalf. After persuasion and gifts, El consents. Kothar-wa-Khasis builds Baal, a magnificent palace of cedar, silver, and gold. When a window is finally opened in the palace, Baal's thunder and lightning pour forth, announcing his reign over rain, storm, and fertility. The opening of the window marks the release of life-giving waters upon the earth.

But Baal's triumph is short-lived. Mot, the god of death and sterility, challenges him. Mot represents drought, decay, and the dry heat of summer. He summons Baal to descend into the underworld. Knowing he cannot refuse, Baal sends messengers, and then he descends. He dies, and with his death the rains cease, crops fail, and the land becomes barren.

Anat, stricken with grief and fury, searches for Baal's body. When she finds him, she mourns violently, gashing her skin and scattering dust on her head. Then she turns her wrath upon Mot. She hunts him down, splits him with the sword, burns him, grinds him, and scatters his remains across the fields. Through this act of sacred violence, she restores fertility to the land.

Meanwhile, Baal's absence creates a vacuum of power. El dreams that Baal is alive, a sign that the cycle of life must return. Baal revives and reclaims his throne. But Mot also returns, for death cannot be annihilated forever. The two clash again in a titanic struggle that ends without final victory. Eventually, Mot submits, acknowledging Baal's kingship, but only temporarily. Their conflict is eternal, reflecting the endless alternation of rain and drought, life and decay.

The Baal Cycle explains the seasonal rhythm of the Levant: the fertile rainy season under Baal's rule, followed by the dry deadly season under Mot's dominance, and the hope of renewal through divine struggle. At its heart, the Baal Cycle speaks of a world governed by tension, where order is constantly threatened by chaos, fertility by drought, and life by death - and where renewal comes not through peace, but through perpetual conflict. Most significantly, Baal of ancient times has nothing to do with its Biblical avatar or its modern political interpretation.

The author writes and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times. Reach him at devdutt.pattanaik@mid-day.com