Canaanite religion is the name for the group of Ancient Semitic religions practiced by the Canaanites living in the ancient Levant from at least the early Bronze Age through the first centuries of the Common Era. The name Canaan means "Land of Purple" (a purple dye was extracted from a murex shellfish found near the shores of Palestine).
Canaanite religion was polytheistic, and in some cases monolatristic.
A great number of deities were worshiped by the followers of the Canaanite religion; this is a partial listing:
Anat, virgin goddess of war and strife, sister and putative mate of Ba'al Hadad.
Anat ( ; Hebrew and Phoenician ענת, ‘Anāt; Ugaritic ‘nt; Greek Αναθ, Anath; Egyptian Antit, Anit, Anti, or Anant) is a major northwest Semitic goddess.
Anat is a violent war-goddess, a virgin in Ugarit (btlt 'nt) though the sister and lover of the great Ba‘al known as Hadad elsewhere. Ba‘al is usually called the son of Dagon and sometimes the son of El. ‘Anat is addressed by El as "daughter". Either one relationship or the other is probably figurative.
Athirat,Hebrew: אֲשֵׁרָה, "walker of the sea", Mother Goddess, wife of El (also known as Elat and after the Bronze Age as Asherah)in Semitic mythology, is a Semitic mother goddess, who appears in a number of ancient sources including Akkadian writings by the name of Ashratum/Ashratu and in Hittite as Asherdu(s) or Ashertu(s) or Aserdu(s) or Asertu(s). Asherah is generally considered identical with the Ugaritic goddess Athirat (more accurately transcribed as ʼAṯirat).
She is identified as the wife or consort of the Sumerian Anu or Ugaritic El, the oldest deities of their pantheons.[1][2] This role gave her a similarly high rank in the Ugaritic pantheon.[3] The name Allat (Elat, Ilat) in the Sanchuniathon is clearly associated with Asherah, because the same common epithet of "the goddess par excellence," is used to describe her.[4] The Book of Jeremiah written circa 628 BC possibly refers to Asherah when it uses the title "Queen of Heaven" (Hebrew: לִמְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם) in Jer 7:18 and Jer 44:17–19, 25.[5] (For a discussion of "queen of heaven" in the Hebrew Bible, see Queen of heaven.)
Athtart, better known by her Greek name Astarte, assists Anat in The Myth of Ba'al.
(Ancient Greek: Ἀστάρτη, "Astártē") is the Greek name of a goddess known throughout the Eastern Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to Classical times.
She is found as Ugaritic. Astarte was connected with fertility, sexuality, and war. Her symbols were the lion, the horse, the sphinx, the dove, and a star within a circle indicating the planet Venus. Pictorial representations often show her naked. She has been known as the deified evening star.
Astarte arrived in Ancient Egypt during the 18th dynasty along with other deities who were worshipped by northwest Semitic people. She was especially worshipped in her aspect as a warrior goddess, often paired with the goddess Anat.
Baalat or Baalit, the wife or female counterpart of Baal (also Belili)
(Biblical Hebrew בעל, pronounced [ˈbaʕal], usually spelled Baal in English) Baʿal (bet-ayin-lamedh) is a Semitic word signifying "The Lord, master, owner (male), keeper, husband". Cognates include Standard Hebrew (Bet-Ayin-Lamed); בַּעַל / בָּעַל, Báʿal, Akkadian Bēl and Arabicبعل. In Hebrew,
the word ba'al means "husband" or "owner", and is related to a verb
meaning to take possession of, for a man, to consummate a marriage. The
word "ba'al" is also used in many Hebrew
phrases, denoting both concrete ownership as well as possession of
different qualities in one's personality. The feminine form is Baʿalah (Hebrew בַּעֲלָהBaʕalah, Arabicبعلـةbaʿalah) signifying "lady, mistress, owner (female), wife".
Baal Hammon, god of fertility and renewer of all energies in the Phoenician colonies of the Western Mediterranean
Dagon, god of crop fertility and grain, father of Ba'al Hadad.
was originally an Assyro-Babylonian fertility god who evolved into a major northwest Semitic
god, reportedly of grain (as symbol of fertility) and fish and/or
fishing (as symbol of multiplying). He was worshipped by the early Amorites and by the inhabitants of the cities of Ebla (modern Tell Mardikh, Syria) and Ugarit
(modern Ras Shamra, Syria) (which was an ancient city near the
Mediterranean containing a large variety of ancient writings and
pre-Judeo-Christian shrines). He was also a major member, or perhaps
head, of the pantheon of the Biblical Philistines.His name appears in Hebrew as דגון (in modern transcriptionDagon, Tiberian Hebrew Dāḡôn), in Ugaritic as dgn (probably vocalized as Dagnu), and in Akkadian as Dagana, Daguna usually rendered in English translations as Dagan.
El Elyon (lit. God Most High) and El; also transliterated as Ilu
Eshmun, god, or as Baalat Asclepius, goddess, of healing
Lotan, the twisting, seven-headed serpent ally of Yam.
is the seven-headed sea serpent or dragon of Ugaritic myths. He is either a pet of the god Yamm or an aspect of Yamm himself; the cosmic ocean of myth is often known as a great stream. In the Hebrew analogue Lotan is who was also known as Yam (sea) the Leviathan. He represents the mass destruction of floods, oceans, and winter. He lives in a palace in the sea. He fights with Baal Hadad, who scatters him.
The Beast (Bible) for The dragon in Revelation
13, 17, 19
Marqod, God of Dance;
also known as Baal-Marqod (Lord of the Dance), was a Phoenician god of healing and dancing.
It is unknown if Marqod's association with dancing came as a result of
the Phoenician belief that Marqod was the creator of dancing or because
dancing was the proper way to worship the deity. This may be evidence that the Phoenicians were the first ancient Near Eastern culture to have a specific deity devoted to dance.[1]
Melqart, king of the city, the underworld and cycle of vegetation in Tyre
Shapash, also transliterated Shapshu, goddess of the sun; sometimes equated with the Mesopotamian sun god Shemesh[5] whose gender is disputed
Yaw(lit. sea-river) the god of the sea and the river, also called Judge Nahar (judge of the river).
Yahwehmay exist as an ending of some Amorite male names, though the only Canaanite mention of Yahweh, found on the Mesha Stele, refers to the God of Israel contrasted with Chemosh.
