Berith (god)
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| Fertile Crescent myth series |
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| Mesopotamian | |
| Levantine | |
| Arabian | |
| God in Hebrew | |
| Mesopotamian religion | |
| Yezidism | |
| The Levant | |
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"Other deities worshipped at Ugarit were El Shaddai, El Elyon, and El Berith. All of these names are applied to Yahweh by the writers of the Old Testament.
Scientific speculation on this, and other, apparent references to multiple deities in the Old Testament is that it's a sign that the Judeo-Christian deity was originally one member of a typical mythic pantheon, but as his sect dominated, the others were "written out". This could only be done gradually, with certain key passages being too well-known to change, so that some anomalies remain, like the references to other Semitic deities and the fact that the oldest Genesis texts refer to the Lord of the Gods -- which the King James version of the bible incorrectly translates as The Lord God.
Modern Hebrew theologians claim their predecessors adopted the titles of the Canaanite gods and attributed them to Yahweh in an effort to eliminate them. If Yahweh is all of these there is no need for the Canaanite gods to exist! This process is known as assimilation." Source
In his euphemistic account of the Phoenician deities, Sanchuniathon says:
- In their time is born a certain Elioun called "the Most High," and a female named Beruth, and these dwelt in the neighbourhood of Byblos.
- And from them is born Epigeius or Autochthon, whom they afterwards called Sky; so that from him they named the element above us Sky because of the excellence of its beauty. And he has a sister born of the aforesaid parents, who was called Earth, and from her, he says, because of her beauty, they called the earth by the same name. And their father, the Most High, died in an encounter with wild beasts, and was deified, and his children offered to him libations and sacrifices."
According to Sanchuniathon it is from Sky and Earth that El and various other deities are born, though ancient texts refer to El as creator of heaven and earth. The Hittite theogony knows of a primal god named Alulu who fathered Sky (and possibly Earth) and who was overthrown by his son Sky, Sky then being overthrown by his son Kumarbi. A similar tradition seems to be at the basis of Sanchuniathon's account. As to Beruth who is here the most high's wife, a relationship with Hebrew bərīt 'covenant' or with the city of Beirut have both been suggested.
