Baal Hammon in the context of "Weather god"

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⭐ Core Definition: Baal Hammon

Baal Hammon, properly Baʿal Ḥamon (Punic: 𐤁𐤏𐤋 𐤇𐤌𐤍, romanized: Baʿl Ḥamōn), meaning "Lord Hammon", was the chief god of ancient Carthage. He was a weather god considered responsible for the fertility of vegetation and esteemed as king of the gods. He was depicted as a bearded older man with curling ram's horns. Baʿal Ḥammon's female cult partner was Tanit. "Baali farming" refers to non-irrigated agriculture in Algeria and Tunisia.

The meaning of his first name "Baal" is identified as one of the Phoenician deities covered under the name of Baal. However, the meaning of his second name "Hammon" is a syncretic association with Amun, the god of ancient Libya whose temple was in Siwa Oasis where the only oracle of Amun remained in that part of the Libyan Desert all throughout the ages. This connection to Amun, makes it possible to equate Baal Hammon lord of the sky to either Zeus or Cronos.

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Baal Hammon in the context of Tanit

Tanit or Tinnit (Punic: 𐤕𐤍𐤕 Tīnnīt) was a chief deity of Ancient Carthage. She is the consort of Baal Hammon. As Ammon is a local Libyan deity, so is Tanit, who represents the matriarchal aspect of Numidian society, and whom the Egyptians identify as Neith and the Greeks identify as Athena. She was the goddess of wisdom, civilization and the crafts; she is the defender of towns and homes where she is worshipped. Ancient North Africans used to put her sign on tombstones and homes to ask for protection. Her main temples were in Thinissut (Bir Bouregba, Tunisia), Cirta (Constantine, Algeria), Lambaesis (Batna, Algeria) and Theveste (Tebessa, Algeria). She had a yearly festival in Antiquity which persists to this day in many parts of North Africa but was banned by Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, who called it a pagan festival.

Tannit was also a goddess of rain, in modern-day Tunisia, it is customary to invoke Omek Tannou or Oumouk Tangou ('Mother Tannou' or 'Mother Tangou', depending on the region), in years of drought to bring rain. Similarly, Algerians and Tunisians refer to "Baali farming" to mean non-irrigated agriculture.

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Baal Hammon in the context of Sanctuary of Thinissut

The Sanctuary of Thinissut is an archaeological site in Tunisia, first excavated in the early 20th century. It is in the present-day locality of Bir Bouregba in the Cap Bon region, about five kilometers from the town of Hammamet and sixty kilometers southeast of the capital, Tunis.

Although the excavated site is primarily dated to the early Imperial period, it is considered characteristic of Punic places of worship. The site demonstrates continuity in worship sites up to the Roman era, including the late period, and illustrates the syncretic religious movement at work. It was originally dedicated to the worship of Ba'al Hammon and his consort Tanit. However, the later honored deities include Saturn, Caelestis, Ceres, and other Hellenistic deities.

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Baal Hammon in the context of Baal

Baal (/ˈb.əl, ˈbɑːl/), or Baʿal (/bɑː.ɑːl/), was a title and honorific meaning 'owner' or 'lord' in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied to gods. Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities, but inscriptions have shown that the name Baal was particularly associated with the storm and fertility god Hadad and his local manifestations. The Ugaritic god Baal (𐎁𐎓𐎍) is the protagonist of one of the lengthiest surviving epics from the ancient Near East, the Baal Cycle.

Known by epithets like “rider of the clouds” and “Victorious Baal,” he was associated with rain, lightning, wind, fertility, and kingship, and was often depicted in opposition to sea and death deities like Yammu and Mot. Worship of Baal spread throughout the Levant, Egypt, and the Mediterranean via Phoenician colonization, with regional forms such as Baal Hammon in Carthage. The god was also known as "the mighty one", and "the one without equal" ("there is none above him").

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Baal Hammon in the context of Shekel

A shekel or sheqel (Akkadian: 𒅆𒅗𒇻, romanized: šiqlu, siqlu; Ugaritic: 𐎘𐎖𐎍, romanized: ṯiql, Hebrew: שקל, romanizedšeqel, plural Hebrew: שקלים, romanized: šəqālim, Phoenician: 𐤔𐤒𐤋) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly 11 grams (0.35 ozt)—and became currency in ancient Tyre, Carthage and Hasmonean Judea.

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Baal Hammon in the context of Aedicula

In ancient Roman religion, an aedicula (pl.: aediculae) is a small shrine, and in classical architecture refers to a niche covered by a pediment or entablature supported by a pair of columns and typically framing a statue. The early Christian ones sometimes contained funeral urns. Aediculae are also represented in art as a form of ornamentation.

The word aedicula is the diminutive of the Latin aedes, a temple building or dwelling place. The Latin word has been anglicised as aedicule and as edicule. Describing post-antique architecture, especially Renaissance architecture, aedicular forms may be described using the word tabernacle, as in tabernacle window.

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