Wally Wright May 5, 2021 RELIGION, MIDDLE EAST Ancient Gods of the Old Testament Wally Wright May 5, 2021 RELIGION, MIDDLE EAST Who is Baal? What about Asherah, Dagon, Marduk, Moloch and the other pagan gods of the Bible? And was human sacrifice part of their worship? Some of these ancient gods, including Molech, who had a built-in baby-burning furnace, are accused of inciting human sacrifice. My parents were never very religious. But that didn’t stop them from sending me to bible camp in the summer. (It was tons of fun — though we all dreaded the inevitable one-on-one with our counselor, when he’d ask if we had let Jesus into heart. Every year we replied that we thought Jesus was in there but we couldn’t be absolutely sure).I also went to Catholic school for four years. So, even though I was obsessed with the ancient gods of Greece and Rome, I couldn’t help being influenced by the Bible’s condemnation of the Canaanite deities in the Old Testament. If you asked me about Baal when I was a kid, I’d have told you he was an evil god who was second only to Satan himself. “The god El could very well have been the original conception of the Hebrew God. It’s right there in the “el” in the name Israel, which is usually translated as “He Who Struggles With God.”” Imagine my surprise years later, when I learned more about the gods that were so maligned in the Bible. They weren’t always the bloodthirsty incarnations of evil they were depicted as. They were simply the deities worshipped by the kingdoms surrounding Israel and Judah. Baal, for instance, was essentially just another Middle Eastern god of fertility. The Old Testament writers disparaged them because they were rivals to their extremely jealous god, Yahweh. (In fact, when God came up with 10 Commandments for his people to follow, he topped the list with, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”)Here are the major ancient deities of the Levant, and how they’re depicted in the Bible. AdrammelechAka: Adramelech, Adar-malikMeaning of the name: Majestic KingDomain: The sun, a counterpart to Anammelech, the goddess of the moonBiblical reference: 2 Kings 17:31: The people of the Assyrian city of Sepharvaim were said to burn their children as sacrifices to the god.Description: This handsome devil has the face of a mule and the plumage of a peacock. He’s also depicted as having a lion’s body with wings and the bearded head of a man.Strange story: According to Collin de Plancy, author of the Dictionnaire Infernal, Adrammelech is in charge of Satan’s wardrobe. AsherahAka: Athirat, AshratuMeaning of the name: Happy or UprightDomain: There’s a lot of confusion around this deity. She could be the mother of the gods. In some incarnations, she was a goddess of sexuality or of the mountains. She also could be tied to the sea or the sun.She might not even be a goddess; asherah seems to refer to cult objects — specifically the consecrated poles used in worship at the time. Numerous statuettes like this one are tied to the goddess Asherah. Biblical reference: 1 Kings 18:19: The goddess’ 400 prophets eat at Jezebel’s table, along with the prophets of Baal.2 Kings 23:4-7: Josiah had “all the articles” made for Asherah and Baal burned, and the “idolatrous priests” were done away with. The Asherah pole was also set on fire and its ashes spread over the graves of the common people. And the quarters where women did weaving for the goddess were torn down.Description: Often depicted as a stylized treeStrange story: She’s connected with Yahweh as a consort — meaning that before the Jews were monotheistic, their God had a wife! Ashtoreth Aka: Atar-gatis; connected to Ishtar and AstarteMeaning of the name: StarDomain: The moon; supreme goddess of Canaan and female counterpart to BaalBiblical reference: 1 Samuel 12:10: One of many references to people declaring they will no longer worship the Baals and the Ashtoreths. The use of the plural could indicate that these names were used to speak generally about so-called pagan deities. The goddess in her Atar-gatis guise has legs as well as a long fish tail. Description: As Atar-gatis, she was a woman with the tail of a fish.Strange story: As an earlier incarnation, Ishtar, the goddess was worshipped through prostitution. And she eventually morphed into a male demon, Astaroth, a great duke of Hell. BaalAka: Ba’al, Baal of Peor, Baal-Berith, Baal-ZebubMeaning of the name: LordDomain: Fertility, as well as the sun and storms; supreme god of Canaan and PhoeniciaBiblical reference: The Old Testament is lousy with references to Baal. He gave the Golden Calf a run for its money. Some choice selections: 2 Kings 10:18-28: The Israelite King Jehu tricked all the servants and priests of Baal to come to the temple for a great sacrifice, where he had his soldiers massacre every last one of them. To add insult to injury, Jehu then made the house of Baal a public latrine. Jeremiah 19:5: Baal’s worshippers are said to burn their sons alive as a sacrifice to ap...