EL. Originally an appellative that simply means "god" in common Semitic, El ('il) is the proper name of the grey-bearded patriarch of the Syro-Palestinian, or "Canaanite," pantheon. Although references to El are found in texts throughout the ancient Near East, this West Semitic deity plays an active mythological and cultic role only in the Late Bronze Age texts from the Syrian city of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra). Here he is portrayed as a wise patriarch and the eldest of the gods, the grey-haired "father of years" (ab šnm). El is "the father of the gods" (ab ilm) and "the creator of creatures" (bny bnwt), while his consort, Athirat, is "the progenitress of the gods" (qnyt ilm). El is also credited with creating the earth in later Phoenician and Punic inscriptions, but Ugaritic texts do not include this tradition. Iconographic sources from Ugarit appear to present "beneficent El, the kindly one" (ḷtpn ʾl dpid) as an enthroned, bearded figure with his right hand raised in a benedictory gesture. As the "father of humanity" (ab adm), El is invoked to cure diseases and grant the blessing of children in Ugaritic epics.
Some scholars have argued that the Ugaritic texts portray El as an otiose deity who is replaced by the virile young Baal as the leader of the gods. Most scholars, however, now agree that El retains his authoritative position as the head of the pantheon even as the storm-god Baal exercises power over the earth on behalf of the gods. As "king" (mlk) and "judge" (ṯpt), El presides over the divine council, which meets at his own mountain home "at the sources of the rivers, amid the confluence of the deeps." It is El's perquisite to appoint and legitimize (yknn) the god who will serve as "king" (mlk), and so Baal rules only with the consent of the divine patriarch. El receives homage and obeisance from the gods, and apart from Anat's impetuous threats to her indulgent father, no deity openly challenges the authority of El without fear of losing his or her own position. Even Mot (Death), the "beloved of El," is subdued when the sun goddess Shapsh threatens him with El's displeasure: "Surely he will remove the support of your throne; surely he will overturn the seat of your kingship; surely he will break the scepter of your rule." The decree of El carries ultimate authority among the gods.
El's most common Ugaritic epithet is "bull" (ṯr), a symbol of his power and strength. One Ugaritic myth, "The Birth of the Gracious Gods," portrays El as a virile and lusty god who seduces two goddesses on the beach. Using "hand" (yd) as a euphemism for penis, the text states that "El's 'hand' grows as long as the sea" (tirkm yd il kym). He impregnates the two goddesses, who give birth to the gods Dawn and Dusk (šḥr wšlm). Similarly in the Baal Cycle, El welcomes the entrance of his consort to his throne room by playfully asking, "Does the 'hand' of El the King excite you, the love of the Bull arouse you?" Indeed, El can be a less-than-dignified character in Ugaritic myth. In one text, El drinks to inebriation at a divine feast (mrzḥ) and is berated by a god "with two horns and a tail" as he staggers home. El then collapses and apparently becomes incontinent, wallowing in his own feces and urine. (This text appropriately concludes with the recipe for a hangover remedy.) Some scholars also identify El with the "king of eternity" (mlk 'lm), the divine leader of the underworld shades of deceased kings (rpum) in the Ugaritic corpus, but there is no consensus on this identification.
The Hebrew Bible frequently uses the word 'ēl as a reference to the Israelite god, both by itself and in combination with other epithets, such as El Olam, El Elyon, and El Shadday (e.g., Gen. 21:33; Exod. 6:2–3). Yahweh and El share many common features. Ugaritic El is "beneficent El, the kindly one" (ḷtpn il dpid), while Yahweh is "a compassionate and gracious god" ('ēl raḥûm wĕḥannûn) (Exod. 34:6). A Phoenician inscription from Karatepe invokes "El, the creator of the earth" ('l qn arṣ), similar to the biblical blessing of "God Most High, creator of the heavens and the earth" ('ē ʿelyôn qōnê šāmayim wā'āreṣ) (Gen. 14:19). Historically, El is probably identified with Yahweh in ancient Israel, as suggested by the phrase "El, the god of Israel" ('ēl 'ĕlōhê yiśrā'ēl) in Genesis 33:20, and by the use of 'ēl as a common theophoric element in Hebrew names. Finally, El appears occasionally in Phoenician and Punic sources from the first millennium BCE, including the Phoenician history allegedly written by Sanchuniathon, which is partially preserved via Philo Byblius in Eusebius's Praeparatio evangelica.
Bibliography
Day, John. Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan. Sheffield, U.K., 2000.
Hermann, W. "El." In Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, edited by Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and Pieter W. van der Horst, 2d ed., pp. 274–280. Leiden, 1999.
Parker, Simon B., ed. Ugaritic Narrative Poetry. Atlanta, 1997. Excellent and accessible English translations of the Ugaritic mythological texts.
Pope, Marvin H. El in the Ugaritic Texts. Leiden, 1955. A classic and still-useful study.
Smith, Mark S. The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts. Oxford, 2001.
Smith, Mark S. The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel. 2d ed. Grand Rapids, Mich., 2002. An excellent introduction with comprehensive bibliographic references to recent work.
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