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{{Английская Википедия/Панель перехода}}
{{Short description|Group of ancient Semitic religions}}
{{Lead too short|date=October 2021}}
[[File:CanaanMap.jpg|thumb|The land of [[Canaan]], which comprises the modern regions of [[Jordan]], [[Israel]], [[State of Palestine|Palestine]], [[Lebanon]] and [[Syria]]. At the time when Canaanite religion was practiced, Canaan was divided into various city states.]]
{{Ancient Near East mythology}}
The '''Canaanite religion''' was the group of [[ancient Semitic religion]]s practiced by the [[Canaan]]ites living in the ancient [[Levant]] from at least the early [[Bronze Age]] to the first centuries CE. Canaanite religion was [[polytheism|polytheistic]] and, in some cases, [[monolatrism|monolatristic]].

==Beliefs==
===Afterlife beliefs and cult of the dead===
{{see also|Veneration of the dead}}
Canaanites believed that following physical death, the ''[[Nefesh|npš]]'' (usually translated as "[[soul]]") departed from the body to the land of [[Mot (god)|Mot]] (Death). Bodies were buried with [[grave goods]], and offerings of food and drink were made to the dead to ensure that they would not trouble the living. Dead relatives were venerated and sometimes asked for help.<ref>Segal, Alan F. ''Life after death: a history of the afterlife in the religions of the West''</ref><ref name="annettereed">{{cite web|url=http://www.annettereed.com/RS-3R03/reed3R03_1-10.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050508170002/http://www.annettereed.com/rs-3r03/reed3R03_1-10.pdf |archive-date=8 May 2005 |date=11 February 2005 |title=Life, Death, and Afterlife in Ancient Israel and Canaan |author=Annette Reed |access-date=2014-10-01 }}</ref>

===Cosmology===
{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2023}}
None of the [[Ugaritic texts|inscribed tablets found since 1928]] in the Canaanite city of [[Ugarit]] (destroyed c. 1200&nbsp;BC) has revealed a [[Religious cosmology|cosmology]]. Syntheses are nearly impossible without [[Hierombalus]] and [[Philo of Byblos]] (c. 64–141&nbsp;CE) via Eusebius, before and after much Greek and Roman influence in the region.

According to the pantheon, known in Ugarit as '{{lang|uga-Latn|ilhm}} ([[Elohim]]) or the children of [[El (deity)|El]], supposedly obtained by Philo of Byblos from [[Sanchuniathon]] of Berythus ([[Beirut]]) the creator was known as Elion, who was the father of the divinities, and in the Greek sources he was married to Beruth (Beirut = the city). This marriage of the divinity with the city would seem to have Biblical parallels too with the stories of the link between [[Melqart]] and [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]]; [[Chemosh]] and [[Moab]]; [[Tanit]] and [[Baal Hammon]] in [[Carthage]], [[Jah|Yah]] and [[Jerusalem]].

The union of El Elyon and his consort Asherah would be representation of primordial Cronos and Rhea in Greek mythology or Roman Saturnus and Ops.

In Canaanite [[mythology]] there were twin mountains Targhizizi and Tharumagi which hold the firmament up above the earth-circling ocean, thereby bounding the earth. W. F. Albright, for example, says that [[El Shaddai]] is a derivation of a Semitic stem that appears in the Akkadian ''shadû'' ("mountain") and ''shaddā'û'' or ''shaddû'a'' ("mountain-dweller"), one of the names of Amurru. Philo of Byblos states that Atlas was one of the Elohim, which would clearly fit into the story of El Shaddai as "God of the Mountain(s)". Harriet Lutzky has presented evidence that Shaddai was an attribute of a Semitic goddess, linking the epithet with Hebrew ''šad'' "breast" as "the one of the Breast". The idea of two mountains being associated here as the breasts of the Earth, fits into the Canaanite mythology quite well. The ideas of pairs of mountains seem to be quite common in Canaanite mythology (similar to Horeb and Sinai in the Bible). The late period of this cosmology makes it difficult to tell what influences (Roman, Greek, or Hebrew) may have informed Philo's writings.

===Mythology===
In the [[Baal Cycle]], Ba'al Hadad is challenged by and defeats Yam, using two magical weapons (called "Driver" and "Chaser") made for him by [[Kothar-wa-Khasis]]. Afterward, with the help of Athirat and Anat, Ba'al persuades El to allow him a palace. El approves, and the palace is built by Kothar-wa-Khasis. After the palace is constructed, Ba'al gives forth a thunderous roar out of the palace window and challenges Mot. Mot enters through the window and swallows Ba'al, sending him to the Underworld. With no one to give rain, there is a terrible drought in Ba'al's absence. The other deities, especially El and Anat, are distraught that Ba'al has been taken to the Underworld. Anat goes to the Underworld, attacks Mot with a knife, grinds him up into pieces, and scatters him far and wide. With Mot defeated, Ba'al is able to return and refresh the Earth with rain.<ref>Wilkinson, Philip ''Myths & Legends: An Illustrated Guide to Their Origins and Meanings''</ref>

===List of deities===
{{Fertile Crescent myth (Levantine)}}
[[File:Baal Ugarit Louvre AO17329.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Ba'al with raised arm, 14th–12th century BC, found at Ras Shamra (ancient [[Ugarit]]), [[Louvre]]]]

A group of [[deity|deities]] in a four-tier hierarchy headed by [[El (deity)|El]] and [[Asherah]]{{efn|
"Handy (1994:176,177) describes the four hierarchical levels in Syro-Palestinian mythology. The first level consists of the deity El (or his equivalents) and Asherah. The second level consists of the active deities or patron gods, for example Baal, and the third, the artisan gods, for example Kothar-wa-Khasis. The lowest level consists of the messenger gods, who have no independent volition, which Handy equates with the "angels" of the Bible."
<ref>{{cite thesis |author=Evans, Annette H.M. |year=2007 |title=Monotheism and Yahweh: The development of Jewish ideas of angels: Egyptian and Hellenistic connections, ca. 600 BC to ca. 200 BC |url=http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/1398 |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=Stellenbosch University |page=291}}
</ref>
}}{{efn|
Per the Syro-Palestinian perception of the cosmos, the fourfold hierarchy of the divine realm may be diagrammed as follows: Authoritative Deities: El; Active Deities: Baal; Artisan Deities: Kothar; Messenger Deities: ''gpn w ugr''&nbsp;...<ref>{{cite book |last=Handy |first=Lowell K. |year=1994 |chapter=Summary – cosmic hierarchy |title=Among the Host of Heaven: The Syro-Palestinian pantheon as bureaucracy |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-0-931464-84-3 |pages=169–170 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fx1by4b1HzEC&pg=PA169}}
</ref>
}}
were worshipped by the followers of the Canaanite religion; this is a detailed listing:<ref>{{cite web |title=Canaanite Religion |last=Tannen |first=Trudy |url=http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~thoqh49081/StudentPapers/canaanite.html |access-date=December 26, 2020 |archive-date=May 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512065510/http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~thoqh49081/StudentPapers/canaanite.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Aglibol]], god of the moon and brother of Malakbel. Part of a trio of gods of Palmyra, Syria, along with Bel and Yarhibol. Also part of another trio with Baalshamin and Malakbel. 
* [[Anat]], virgin goddess of war and strife, sister and putative mate of [[Hadad|Baʿal Hadad]].
* [[Arsay]], goddess of the underworld, one of the three daughters of Ba'al Hadad.
* [[Arsu]], god of the evening star and twin brother of Azizos.
* [[Ashtar-Chemosh]], wife of [[Chemosh]] and goddess of the Moabites.
* [[Asherah]], queen consort of [[El (deity)|El]] ([[Ugarit#Religion|Ugaritic religion]]), [[Elkunirsa]] ([[Hittite mythology|Hittite religion]]), [[Yahweh]] ([[Yahwism|Israelite religion]]), [[Amurru (god)|Amurru]] ([[Amorites|Amorite religion]]), [[Anu]] ([[Akkadian religion]]) and [['Amm]] ([[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia]])<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/athirat |title=Athirat |date=December 23, 2020 |access-date=December 26, 2020}}</ref> Symbolized by an [[Asherah pole]] in the Hebrew Bible.
* [[Ashima]], goddess of fate 
* [[Astarte]], goddess of war, hunting and love.
* [[Atargatis]], wife of Hadad, goddess of fertility and the chief goddess of northern Syria 
* [[Attar (god)|Attar]], god of the morning star ("son of the morning") who tried to take the place of the dead Baal and failed. Male counterpart of Athtart.
* [[Azizos]], god of the morning star and twin brother of Arsu.
* [[Baal#Etymology|Baalah]], properly Baʿalah, the wife or female counterpart of [[Baal]] (also [[Tammuz (deity)|Belili]])<ref>{{cite web |last=Guisepi |first=Robert |title=Canaanite culture and religion |website=history-world.org |url=http://history-world.org/canaanite_culture_and_religion.htm |access-date=December 26, 2020 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808222928/http://history-world.org/canaanite_culture_and_religion.htm |archive-date=2017-08-08}}</ref>
* [[Ba'alat Gebal]], goddess of Byblos, Phoenicia
* [[Hadad]], often known as ''Baʿal'' "Lord", god of storms, thunder, lightning and air. King of the gods. Uses the weapons Driver and Chaser in battle. Often referred to as [[Baalshamin]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Baal |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url = https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baal-ancient-deity |access-date=December 26, 2020 }}</ref>
* [[Ba'al Hermon]], titular local deity of Mount Hermon.
* [[Baal Hammon]], god of vegetative fertility and renewer of all energies of [[Ancient Carthage]]
* [[Baalshamin]] also called Baal Shamem and Baal Shamaim, supreme sky god of Palmyra, Syria whose temple was destroyed on 23&nbsp;August 2015 by [[ISIL]]. His attributes were the eagle and the lightning bolt. Part of trinity of deities along with Aglibol and Malakbel.<ref>{{cite web |title=Extremists blow up Baalshamin Temple at Palmyra, in pictures |date=August 25, 2015 |website=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11620441/Islamic-State-fighters-seize-the-world-heritage-site-of-Palmyra-in-pictures.html |access-date=December 26, 2020}}</ref>
* [[Baal-zephon]] or Baalzephon, properly Baʿal Zaphon or Ṣaphon. Alternate form of Baal Hadad as lord of Mount Zaphon.
* [[Bel (mythology)|Bel]], or Bol,<ref name=":0">{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TccUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1 |title = The Pantheon of Palmyra |last=Teixidor |first=Javier |year=1979 |publisher=Brill Archive |isbn=90-04-05987-3 |page=1 |language=en}}</ref> was the chief god of Palmyra, Syria whose temple was destroyed on August 30, 2015, by ISIL.<ref>{{cite news |last=Quinn |first=Ben |date=1 September 2015 |title=ISIS destruction of Palmyra's Temple of Bel revealed in satellite images |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/01/satellite-images-reveal-isis-destruction-of-palmyras-temple-of-bel |access-date=26 December 2020}}</ref>
* [[Bethel (god)|Bethel]], who became popular during the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] in the Syria region and in the [[Elephantine#Jewish_presence|Samarian-Judean diaspora settlement of Elephantine, Egypt]]
* [[Chemosh]], possibly one of the sons of El, a god of war and destruction and the national god of the Moabites and the Ammonites.
* [[Dagon]] (Dagan) god of crop fertility and grain, father of Ba'al Hadad
* [[El (deity)|El]], also called ''{{`}}Il'' or [[Elyon]] ("Most High"), god of creation, husband of Athirat.{{efn|
[Deuteronomy 32:8–9] suggests that [[Yahweh]], originally a warrior-god from Sinai / Paran / Edom / Teiman, was known separately from [[El (deity)|El]] at an early point in early Israel.
<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first = Mark S. |year=2002 |title = The Early History of God: Yahweh and the other deities in ancient Israel |publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-3972-5 |pages=32f, n. 45 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1yM3AuBh4AsC&pg=PA32}}</ref>
}}{{efn|name=Yahweh.Idiosyncrasy}} 
* Eretz, goddess of the earth
* [[Eshmun]], god, or as ''Baalat Asclepius'', goddess, of healing
* [[Gad (deity)|Gad]], god of fortune
* [[Gupan and Ugar]], messenger gods of the weather god Baal, who always appear as a pair.
* [[Haurun]], an underworld god, {{citation needed span|co-ruler of the underworld, twin brother of Melqart, a son of Mot. [[Bethoron]] in Israel, takes its name from Horon.|date=December 2020}}
* [[Ishara]], a goddess of [[Ebla]]ite origin
* Ishat, goddess of fire, wife of Moloch. She was slain by [[Anat]].<ref>Gorelick, Leonard; Williams-Forte, Elizabeth; ''Ancient seals and the Bible''. International Institute for Mesopotamian Area Studies. p.&nbsp;32.</ref><ref>Dietrich, Manfried; Loretz, Oswald; Ugarit-Forschungen: ''Internationales Jahrbuch für die Altertumskunde Syrien-Palästinas'', volume 31. p.&nbsp;362.</ref><ref>Kang, Sa-Moon, ''Divine war in the Old Testament and in the ancient Near East''. p.&nbsp;79.</ref>
* [[Kotharat]], seven goddesses of marriage and pregnancy
* [[Kothar-wa-Khasis]], the skilled god of craftsmanship, created Yagrush and Aymur (Driver and Chaser) the weapons used by the god Ba'al Hadad.
* [[Lotan]], the twisting, seven-headed serpent ally of Yam.
* [[Malakbel]], god of the sun, vegetation, welfare, angel of Bel and brother of Agilbol. Part of a trinity of deities in Palmyra, Syria along with Aglibol and Baalshamin.
* [[Manuzi]], god of weather and husband of Liluri. Bulls were sacrificed to both of them.
* [[Marqod]], god of dance
* [[Melqart]], "king of the city", god of Tyre, the underworld and cycle of vegetation in [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], co-ruler of the underworld, twin brother of Horon and son of Mot.
* [[Milcom]], national god of the [[Ammon]]ites.
* [[Misor]], twin brother of Sydyk.
* [[Moloch]], putative god of fire, husband of Ishat,{{refn|"alleged but not securely attested", according to <ref name=Johnston-nd>{{cite book |author=Johnston, Sarah Isles |title=Religions of the Ancient World: A guide |date=30 November 2004 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=0-674-01517-7}}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p=335}} }} may be identified with Milcom.
* [[Mot (god)|Mot]] or Maweth, god of death (not worshiped or given offerings)
* [[Nikkal|Nikkal-wa-Ib]], goddess of orchards and fruit
* Pidray, goddess of light and lightning, one of the three daughters of Ba'al Hadad.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wiggins |first=Steve |year=2003 |title=Pidray, Tallay, and Arsay in the Baal Cycle |url = https://www.academia.edu/1307039 |journal=Journal of Northwest Semitic Language |volume=29 |pages=83–101}}</ref>
* [[Qetesh|Qadeshtu]], lit. "Holy One", putative goddess of love, desire and lust. Also a title of [[Asherah]].
* [[Qos (deity)|Qos]], national god of the [[Edom]]ites
* [[Resheph]], god of plague and of healing
* [[Shadrafa]], god of medicine or healing
* [[Shahar (god)|Shachar]] and [[Shalim]], twin mountain gods of dawn and dusk, respectively. Shalim was linked to the netherworld via the evening star and associated with peace<ref name="google">{{cite book |author1=Botterweck, G.J. |author2=Ringgren, H. |author3=Fabry, H.J. |date=2006 |title=Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament |volume=15 |page=24 |publisher=Alban Books Limited |isbn=978-0-8028-2339-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63BP9RPm26sC |access-date=2014-12-15}}</ref>
* {{citation needed span|[[Heaven in Judaism|Shamayim]] (lit. "skies"), god of the heavens|date=December 2020}}
* [[Shapash]], also transliterated Shapshu, goddess of the sun; sometimes equated with the [[Mesopotamia]]n sun god [[Shamash]],<ref name=Johnston-nd/>{{rp|style=ama|p=418}} whose gender is disputed. Some authorities consider Shamash a goddess.<ref>{{cite book |author=Wyatt, Nick |date=19 July 2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BP-WezDMkDQC |title=There's Such Divinity Doth Hedge a King |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=978-0-7546-5330-1 |page=104}}</ref>
* [[Sydyk#Etymology and role in the Phoenician theogeny|Sydyk]], the god of righteousness or justice, sometimes twinned with [[Misor]], and linked to the planet Jupiter<ref>{{cite web |title=26 Religions |publisher=University of Utah |url=http://www.cs.utah.edu/~spiegel/kabbalah/jkm26.htm |access-date=December 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224065917/http://www.cs.utah.edu:80/~spiegel/kabbalah/jkm26.htm |archive-date=February 24, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kohler |first1=Kaufmann |last2=Singer |first2=Isidore |title=Melchizedek |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10602-melchizedek |access-date=December 26, 2020 |publisher=[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]}}</ref>
* Tallai, the goddess of winter, snow, cold and dew, one of the three daughters of Ba'al Hadad.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gordon |first=Cyrus H. |year=1965 |title=Common Background of Greek and Hebrew Civilizations |publisher=Norton Library |isbn=978-0-393-00293-5 |location=New York, NY |page=171}}</ref>
* [[Yahweh]] or Yah
* [[Yam (god)|Yam]] (lit. sea-river) the god of the sea and rivers,<ref>Ugaritic text: KTU 1.1 IV 14</ref> also called Judge Nahar (judge of the river)<ref name="harvard">{{cite web |series=The Shelby White & Leon Levy Program |title=Dig sites, Levant southern |publisher=Harvard University |website=fas.harvard.edu |url=http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~semitic/wl/digsites/levant_southern.html#kuntillet |access-date=2014-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329015805/http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~semitic/wl/digsites/levant_southern.html#kuntillet |archive-date=2014-03-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Finkelstein, Israel |author2=Silberman, Neil Asher |year=2001 |url=https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwRNgbXyG_HmNzMyOWRiY2EtYWE2Zi00MDA0LTg3NjYtZjI3YjZhOWM0Y2Y2/edit?usp=drive_web&hl=en# |title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's new vision of ancient Israel and the origin of its sacred texts |page=242}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel and the Old Testament |first=Tilde |last=Binger |page=35}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=April 2022}}
* [[Yarhibol]], solar god and "lord of the spring". Part of a trinity of co-supreme gods of Palmyra, Syria along with Aglibol and Bel.
* [[Yarikh]], god of the moon and husband of Nikkal. The city of [[Jericho]] was likely his cultic center.

== Practices ==
===Religious practices===
Archaeological investigations at the site of [[Tell es-Safi]] have found the remains of donkeys, as well as some sheep and goats in Early Bronze Age layers, dating to 4,900 years ago which were imported from Egypt in order to be sacrificed. One of the sacrificial animals, a complete donkey, was found beneath the foundations of a building, leading to speculation this was a 'foundation deposit' placed before the building of a residential house.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/1.726027|title=Canaanites Imported Sacrificial Animals From Egypt, Archaeologists Find|first=Philippe|last=Bohstrom|date=21 June 2016|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref>

It is considered virtually impossible to reconstruct a clear picture of Canaanite religious practices. Although child sacrifice was known to surrounding peoples, there is no reference to it in ancient Phoenician or Classical texts. The biblical representation of Canaanite religion is always negative.<ref>{{cite book |title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible |author=David Noel Freedman |author2=Allen C. Myers |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |date=2000-12-31 |page=214}}</ref>

Canaanite religious practice had a high regard for the duty of children to care for their parents, with sons being held responsible for burying them, and arranging for the maintenance of their tombs.<ref>{{cite book |title=Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction |author=Lawrence Boadt |author2=Richard J. Clifford |author3=Daniel J. Harrington |publisher=Paulist Press |year=2012 |chapter=11}}</ref>

Canaanite deities such as Baal were represented by figures which were placed in shrines, often on hilltops, or 'high places' surrounded by groves of trees, such as is condemned in the Hebrew Bible, in Hosea (v 13a) which would probably hold the Asherah pole, and standing stones or pillars.<ref>{{cite book |title=Hosea, Joel, and Amos |author=Bruce C. Birch |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |date=1997-01-01 |pages=33, 56}}</ref>

===Funerary rites===
Funerary rites held an important role in Canaanite religion and included rituals to honor the deceased and to feed the “npš” (the origin of the Hebrew word “״נפש״ and usually translated as soul) as it moved on to Mot, the land of death. Rituals to honor the deceased included offerings of [[incense]], [[libations]], [[History of music in the biblical period|music]], the singing of devotional songs, and sometimes trance rituals, oracles, and necromancy.

Excavations in [[Tel Megiddo]] have offered greater insight into Canaanite funerary practices. A large number of wine vessels have been found in the graves there, as well as vessels of beeswax, animal fat, olive oil, resin, and even vanilla. These [[grave goods]] may have been used as part of a funerary feast, as offerings to the dead, or both. Additionally, evidence of [[opium]] use was found at "a Late Bronze Age site in the southern Levant". The presence of grave goods may suggest similarities between Canaanite practices and the [[Ancient Egyptian Religion|Ancient Egyptian]] custom of providing the deceased with supplies for the afterlife.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Steinmeyer |first1=Nathan |title=Canaanite Burial Customs—Pour One Out for the Departed |url=https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/canaanite-burial-customs-and-wine/ |website=Biblical Archeology Society |date=9 June 2023 |publisher=Nathan Steinmeyer}}</ref>

==History==
{{further|History of the ancient Levant}}

===The Canaanites===
The Levant region was inhabited by people who themselves referred to the land as 'ca-na-na-um' as early as the mid-second millennium BC.<ref>{{cite book |author=Aubet, Maria E. |year=1987 |orig-date=1910 |title=The Phoenicians and the West |publisher=Cambridge University Press |place=New York, NY |page=9}}</ref> There are a number of possible [[etymology|etymologies]] for the word referred.

The etymology of "Canaan" is unknown. 

While "''Phoenician''" and "''Canaanite''" refer to the same culture, archaeologists and historians commonly refer to the [[Bronze Age]], pre-1200&nbsp;BC Levantines as Canaanites; and their [[Iron Age]] descendants, particularly those living on the coast, as Phoenicians. More recently, the term Canaanite has been used for the secondary Iron Age states of the interior (including the [[Philistines]] and the states of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]]){{efn|
Ancient Israel and Judah were not "communities of faith" as distinct from any of their neighbours, all of whom had their own deities also. We cannot know in much detail what the religions of these ancient societies were, but the books of ''Judges'' and ''Kings'' and the archaeological evidence all agree that much religious practice in these two kingdoms largely conformed to local patterns ("worshipping the Baals").<ref name="Davies 15">{{cite book |last=Davies |first=Philip R. |author-link=Philip R. Davies |title=On the Origins of Judaism |date=1 April 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-94502-3 |page=15|chapter=Early Judaism(s) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mreCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA15}}</ref>
}}{{efn|
The Bible, I think, is neither historical nor historiographical, but a secondary collection of tradition.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Thompson|first1=Thomas L.|author-link1=Thomas L. Thompson|title=A view from Copenhagen: Israel and the History of Palestine|url=https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/view-copenhagen-israel-and-history-palestine|website=The Bible and Interpretation|publisher=Mark Elliott, Patricia Landy|access-date=15 September 2017}}</ref>
}}<ref name="Davies 15"/>
that were not ruled by [[Arameans]] — a separate and closely related ethnic group.<ref name="Tubb">{{cite book |author=Tubb, Jonathan |title=The Canaanites |publisher=British Museum Press}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=April 2022}} The DNA of the modern Arab and Jewish people matches the DNA of the ancient Canaanites.<ref>{{cite news |title=DNA from the Bible's Canaanites lives on in modern Arabs and Jews |date=2020-05-28 |magazine=National Geographic |language=en |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/dna-from-biblical-canaanites-lives-modern-arabs-jews|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210217223303/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/dna-from-biblical-canaanites-lives-modern-arabs-jews|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 17, 2021|access-date=2021-05-02}}</ref>

===Influences===
Canaanite religion was strongly influenced by their more powerful and populous neighbors, and shows clear influence of [[Ancient Mesopotamian religion|Mesopotamian]] and [[Ancient Egyptian religion|Egyptian]] religious practices. Like other people of the Ancient Near East Canaanite religious beliefs were [[polytheism|polytheistic]], with families typically focusing on [[veneration of the dead]] in the form of household gods and goddesses, the [[Elohim#Canaanite religion|Elohim]], while acknowledging the existence of other deities such as [[Baal]] and [[El (deity)|El]], [[Mot (god)|Mot]],  [[Qos (deity)|Qos]], Asherah and Astarte. Kings also played an important religious role and in certain ceremonies, such as the ''[[hieros gamos]]'' of the [[New Year]], may have been revered as gods. "At the center of Canaanite religion was royal concern for religious and political legitimacy and the imposition of a divinely ordained legal structure, as well as peasant emphasis on fertility of the crops, flocks, and humans."<ref>abstract, K. L. Noll (2007) "Canaanite Religion", ''Religion Compass'' 1 (1), 61–92 {{doi|10.1111/j.1749-8171.2006.00010.x}}</ref><ref>Moscati, Sabatino. ''The Face of the Ancient Orient'', 2001.</ref>

===Carthage===
{{main|Punic religion}}
Punic religion in the western Mediterranean was a direct continuation of the [[Phoenicia]]n variety of the [[polytheism|polytheistic]] ancient Canaanite religion. However, significant local differences developed over the centuries following the foundation of [[Carthage]] and other [[Punic]] communities elsewhere in [[North Africa]], southern Spain, [[Sardinia]], western [[Sicily]], and [[Malta]] from the ninth century BC onward. After the conquest of these regions by the [[Roman Republic]] in the third and second centuries BC, Punic religious practices continued, surviving until the fourth century CE in some cases.

=== Hellenistic period ===
Throughout the [[Hellenistic period]], in the non-[[Second Temple Judaism|Jewish]] parts of Canaan, [[Hellenistic religion|Greek religion]] grew alongside pre-existing Canaanite traditions rather than replacing them. From the ancient Canaanite practice of outdoor worship, the Greek custom of worshipping [[Zeus]] on a simple altar atop [[Mount Ida (Crete)|Mount Ida]] or [[Mount Olympus|Olympus]] cannot have appeared all that odd. The new masters conferred Greek names on the ancient Canaanite deities.<ref>{{Citation |last=Halpern-Zylberstein |first=Marie-Christine |title=The archeology of Hellenistic Palestine |date=1990 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-judaism/archeology-of-hellenistic-palestine/BEF2CBA670284E59A7252A3184D30A84 |work=The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume 2: The Hellenistic Age |volume=2 |page=28 |editor-last=Finkelstein |editor-first=Louis |access-date=2023-03-19 |series=The Cambridge History of Judaism |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-21929-7 |editor2-last=Davies |editor2-first=W. D.}}</ref>

==Contact with other areas==
{{one source section|date=February 2017}}
Canaanite religion was influenced by its peripheral position, intermediary between Egypt and Mesopotamia, whose religions had a growing impact upon Canaanite religion. For example, during the [[Hyksos]] period, when chariot-mounted ''[[maryannu]]'' ruled in Egypt, at their capital city of [[Avaris]], Baal became associated with the Egyptian god [[Set (deity)|Set]], and was considered identical; particularly with Set in his form as Sutekh. Iconographically henceforth, Baal was shown wearing the crown of [[Lower Egypt]] and shown in the Egyptian-like stance, one foot set before the other. Similarly [[Asherah|Athirat]] (known by her later Hebrew name Asherah), [[Astarte|Athtart]] (known by her later Greek name Astarte), and [[Anat]] henceforth were portrayed wearing [[Hathor]]-like Egyptian wigs.

From the other direction, [[Jean Bottéro]] has suggested that ''Ya'' of [[Ebla]] (a possible precursor of [[Yam (god)|Yam]]) was equated with the [[ancient Mesopotamian religion|Mesopotamian]] god [[Enki|Ea]] during the [[Akkadian Empire]]. In the Middle and Late Bronze Age, there are also strong [[Hurrians|Hurrian]] and [[Mitanni]]te influences upon the Canaanite religion. The Hurrian goddess [[Hebat]] was worshiped in [[Jerusalem]], and [[Baal]] was closely considered equivalent to the Hurrian storm god [[Teshub]] and the [[Hittite mythology|Hittite]] storm god, [[Teshub|Tarhunt]]. Canaanite divinities seem to have been almost identical in form and function to the neighboring [[Arameans]] to the east, and Baal Hadad and El can be distinguished amongst earlier [[Amorites]], who at the end of the Early [[Bronze Age]] invaded [[Mesopotamia]].

Carried west by [[Phoenicia]]n sailors, Canaanite religious influences can be seen in [[Greek mythology]], particularly in the tripartite division between the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympians]] [[Zeus]], [[Poseidon]] and [[Hades]], mirroring the division between [[Baal]], [[Yam (god)|Yam]] and [[Mot (god)|Mot]], and in the story of the [[Labours of Hercules]], mirroring the stories of the [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyrian]] [[Melqart]], who was often equated with Heracles.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1611641624 |title=Stories from Ancient Canaan, Second Edition |isbn=978-1-61164-162-2 |access-date=9 February 2017|last1=Coogan |first1=Michael D. |last2=Smith |first2=Mark S. |date=15 March 2012 |publisher=Presbyterian Publishing Corp }}</ref>

==Sources==
Present-day knowledge of Canaanite religion comes from:

* literary sources, mainly from [[Late Bronze Age]] [[Ugarit]],<ref>Richard, Suzanne ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=khR0apPid8gC&q=%22canaanite+religion%22&pg=PA343 Near Eastern archaeology: a reader]'', Eisenbrauns illustra9ted edition (1 Aug 2004) {{ISBN|978-1-57506-083-5}}, p. 343</ref> supplemented by biblical sources
* archaeological discoveries

===Literary sources===
[[File:Ugarit 02.jpg|thumb|right|The ruins of the excavated city of Ras Shamra, or Ugarit]] 
Until [[Claude Frédéric-Armand Schaeffer|Claude F. A. Schaefer]] began excavating in 1929 at Ras Shamra in northern [[Syria]] (the site historically known as [[Ugarit]]), and the discovery of its Bronze Age archive of [[clay tablet]]s written in an [[Ugaritic alphabet|alphabetical cuneiform]],<ref>{{Cite web |last= Schaeffer |first= Claude F. A. |title= The Cuneiform Texts of Ras Shamra~Ugarit |location= London |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 1936 |url= http://oilib.uchicago.edu/books/schaefer_cuneiform_ugarit_1939.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110920044754/http://oilib.uchicago.edu/books/schaefer_cuneiform_ugarit_1939.pdf |archive-date= 2011-09-20 }}</ref> modern scholars knew little about Canaanite religion, as few records have survived.

[[Papyrus]] seems to have been the preferred writing medium, but whereas in Egypt papyrus may survive centuries in the extremely dry climate, Canaanite records have simply decayed in the humid [[Mediterranean climate]].<ref name="OlmoLete">Olmo Lete, Gregorio del (1999), "Canaanite religion: According to the liturgical texts of Ugarit" (CDL)</ref> As a result, the accounts contained within the [[Bible]] represented almost the only sources of information on ancient Canaanite religion. This record was supplemented by a few secondary and tertiary Greek sources: ([[Lucian]]'s ''[[On the Syrian Goddess]]'', fragments of the ''Phoenician History'' of [[Philo of Byblos]] (died 141 CE), and the writings of [[Damascius]]). More recently, detailed study of the Ugaritic material, of other inscriptions from the Levant and also of the [[Ebla]] archive from Tel Mardikh, excavated in 1960 by a joint Italo-Syrian team, have cast more light on the early Canaanite religion.<ref name="OlmoLete"/><ref>Hillers D.R. (1985)"Analyzing the Abominable: Our Understanding of Canaanite Religion" (The Jewish quarterly review, 1985)</ref>

According to ''The Encyclopedia of Religion'', the Ugarit texts represent one part of a larger religion that was based on the religious teachings of Babylon. The Canaanite scribes who produced the ''Baal'' texts were also trained to write in Babylonian cuneiform, including Sumerian and Akkadian texts of every genre.<ref>
The Encyclopedia of Religion – Mcmillan Library Ref. – Page 42
</ref>

===Archaeological sources===
{{further|Levantine archaeology}}
[[Levantine archaeology|Archaeological excavations]] in the last few decades have unearthed more about the religion of the ancient Canaanites.<ref name="Tubb"/> The excavation of the city of [[Ras Shamra]] (1928 onwards) and the discovery of its Bronze Age archive of clay-tablet [[alphabet]]ic [[cuneiform]] texts provided a wealth of new information. Detailed study of the Ugaritic material, of other inscriptions from the Levant and also of the [[Ebla]] archive from Tel Mardikh, excavated in 1960 by a joint Italo-Syrian team, have cast more light on the early Canaanite religion.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

== See also ==
* [[Ancient Semitic religion]]
* [[Canaanism]]
* [[Origins of Judaism]]
* [[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia]]
* [[Religions of the ancient Near East]]
* [[Semitic neopaganism]]
* ''[[The Early History of God|The Early History of God: Yahweh and Other Deities in Ancient Israel]]''
* [[Yahwism]]

== Footnotes ==
{{notelist|notes =

{{efn|
name=Yahweh.Idiosyncrasy|
Whereas the Israelites originated as Bronze Age Canaanites, the origin of Yahweh is indeterminate (see [[Yahweh#Late Bronze Age origins (1550–1200&nbsp;BCE)|Yahweh §Bronze Age origins]]). Following the introduction of Yahweh (localized to the [[Iron Age]] kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel (Samaria)]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]]), a shift in [[theophoric]] naming occurred in which the original and most ancient biblical [[Theophoric name#El|names paying tribute to El]] (Isra<u>el</u>, Dani<u>el</u>, Samu<u>el</u>, Micha<u>el</u> etc.) began to be displaced by [[Theophoric name#Yahweh|names paying tribute to Yahweh]].
:
[[Mark S. Smith]] sees the conflation of El and Yahweh as part of the process which he describes as "convergence" in the period of the [[History of ancient Israel and Judah#Period of the Judges|Judges]] and the early monarchy. Convergence saw the coalescence of the qualities of other deities, and even the deities themselves, into Yahweh.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.eerdmans.com/Products/3972/the-early-history-of-god.aspx |first=Mark S. |last=Smith |edition=2nd |title=The Early History of Israel |pages=6–13}}</ref> Thus El became identified as a name of Yahweh, while Asherah ceased to be a distinct goddess. And the attributes of El, Asherah, and Baal (notably, for Baal, his identification as a storm-god) were assimilated into Yahweh.
:
Some of the idiosyncratic aspects of Yahweh are described by Smith as "differentiation" in the period from the 9th century BC through to the [[Jewish diaspora|Exile]]. Differentiation identified and rejected certain Canaanite features i.e. Baal, child sacrifice, the asherah, worship of the sun and moon, and the cults of the "high places".<ref>{{cite journal |first=W. Lee |last=Humphries |date=Spring 1993 |title=review of ''The Early History of God'' |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion |volume=61 |number=1 |pages=157–160 |jstor=1465020}}</ref>
}}

}} <!-- end "notes=" -->

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Moscatti |first=Sabatino |year=1968 |title=The World of the Phoenicians |publisher=Phoenix / Giant}}
* {{cite book |last=Ribichini |first=Sergio |year=1997 |section=Beliefs and religious life |editor=Sabatino, Maoscati |title=The Phoenicians |publisher=Rissoli}}
* {{cite book |last = van der Toorn |first=Karel |year=1995 |title=Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible |place=New York, NY |publisher = E.J. Brill |isbn = 0-8028-2491-9 }}
* {{cite web |editor=Haanat, Lilinah |title=Bibliography of Canaanite & Phoenician Studies |url=http://webspace.webring.com/people/nl/lilinah_haanat/biblio3.html#canpoen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195225/http://webspace.webring.com/people/nl/lilinah_haanat/biblio3.html#canpoen |archive-date=2016-03-04}}
* {{cite book |last=Dawson |first=Tess |year=2009 |title = Whisper of Stone. Natib Qadish: Modern Canaanite Religion |publisher = O Books |isbn=978-1-84694-190-0 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|auto=yes}}
*{{cite web |author = K. L. Noll |author-link = K. L. Noll |title = Canaanite Religion |url = https://people.brandonu.ca/nollk/canaanite-religion/ |website = Brandon University }}

{{Middle Eastern mythology}}
{{Paganism}}
{{Religion topics |ancient}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Phoenician mythology]]
[[Category:Phoenician religion]]
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