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Ancient Near Eastern deities
Levantine deities

Adonis | Anat | Asherah | Ashima | Astarte | Atargatis | Ba'al | Berith | Chemosh | Dagon | Derceto | El | Elyon | Eshmun | Hadad | Kothar | Melqart | Mot | Moloch | Qetesh | Resheph | Shalim | Yarikh | Yam | YHWH
Mesopotamian deities

Adad | Amurru | An/Anu | Anshar | Ashur | Abzu/Apsu | Enki/Ea | Enlil | Ereshkigal | Inanna/Ishtar | Kingu | Kishar | Lahmu & Lahamu | Marduk | Mummu | Nabu | Nammu | Nanna/Sin | Nergal | Ningizzida | Ninhursag | Ninlil | Tiamat | Utu/Shamash
Egyptian deities
Amun | Ra | Apis | Bakha | Osiris | Ptah
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The name or epithet or word ‘Elyōn (Masoretic pronunciation of Hebrew עליון), is traditionally rendered in Samaritan Hebrew as illiyyon, and means something like 'higher, upper'. The Ancient Near East refers to early Civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq See also Names of the Levant The Levant (lə'vænt is a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia, roughly bounded on the north by the Ancient Semitic religion spans the Polytheistic religions of the Semitic speaking peoples of the Ancient Near East. Adonis (Άδωνης also Άδωνις is a figure of West Semitic origin where he is a central cult figure in various Mystery religions, who enters Anat, also ‘Anat is a major northwest Semitic goddess ‘Anat in Ugarit In the Ugaritic Ba‘al / Hadad cycle ‘Anat Asherah (from Hebrew אשרה generally taken as identical with the Ugaritic goddess Athirat (more accurately transcribed as ʼAṯirat) was In the Hebrew Bible, Ashima is one of several deities protecting the individual cities of Samaria who are mentioned specifically by name in 2 Kings 1730 Astarte (from Greek Ἀστάρτη ( Astártē) is the name of a Goddess as known from Northwestern Semitic regions cognate in name origin For the metal band see Atargatis (band. Atargatis, in Aramaic ‘Atar‘atah, was a Syrian deity "the great Ba'al (pronounced; Hebrew בעל (ordinarily spelled Baal in English is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" 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 Chemosh (ˈkimɑʃ (from Hebrew כמש, pronounced /χeˈmoʃ/ was the God of the Moabites (Num Dagon was a major northwest Semitic god reportedly of grain and agriculture For the metal band see Atargatis (band. Atargatis, in Aramaic ‘Atar‘atah, was a Syrian deity "the great Eli (Hebrew אל is the Northwest Semitic word and name either translated into English as "god" or "God" or left untranslated as Eli, depending Eshmun (or Eshmoun, less accurately Esmun or Esmoun) was a Phoenician god of healing and the tutelary god of Sidon. Haddad בעל הדד (in Ugaritic Haddu) was a very important northwest Semitic storm and rain god, cognate in name and origin with the Kothar-wa-Khasis (כושר וחסיס is a Canaanite god whose name means "Skillful-and-Wise" or "Adroit-and-Perceptive" or "Deft-and-Clever" Melqart, properly Phoenician Milk-Qart "King of the City" less accurately Melkart, Melkarth In Ugaritic Mot 'Death' (spelled mt) is personified as a god of death Moloch, Molech, Molekh, or Molek, representing Hebrew מלך mlk, (translated directly into king is either the name of a In Egyptian mythology and Canaanite religion, Qetesh (also Qadesh Quetesh Kadesh Qatesh Qadeshet Qudshu Qodesh) referred to a Goddess or Goddesses Resheph or Reshef (Canaanite/Hebrew sem-Latn ršp he רשף was a Canaanite deity of plague and war. Shalim is the king of dusk in the pantheon of Ugarit. He is the twin brother and counterpart of Shahar the king of dawn Yarikh, in Canaanite mythology Yarkhibol in Phoenician, also written as Jerah, Jarah, or Jorah (Hebrew spelling ירח Yamm, from the Canaanite word Yam, meaning "Sea" is one name of the Ugaritic god of Rivers and Sea See also Yahweh Tetragrammaton (from the Greek, meaning ' of four letters' (tetra "four" + gramma (gen Dingir is the Sumerian for " Deity " It is written as an Ideogram in the Cuneiform script (Borger 2003 nr This article is about the Sumerian god Adad also known as Ishkur. Amurru (or Martu) are names given in Akkadian and Sumerian texts to the god of the Amorite /Amurru people often forming part of personal In Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians Anu (also An; (from Sumerian *An = sky heaven was a sky-god In Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians Anu (also An; (from Sumerian *An = sky heaven was a sky-god In Akkadian mythology, Anshar (also spelled Anshur) which means "sky pivot" or "sky axle" is a Sky God. Aššur (also Ashur, Assur; written A-šur, also Aš-šùr, in Neo-Assyrian often shortened to Aš) was the head of the Assyrian Enki ( Sumerian: dENKI(G 𒂗𒆠 was a Deity in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology Enlil ( EN = Lord + LIL = Loft "Lord of the Open" or "Lord of the Wind" was the name of a chief deity listed and written about in ancient Sumerian In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal ( D EREŠ. KI. GAL, lit Inanna ( D INANNA B153ellstpng|100x20px|INANNA]]) is the Sumerian goddess of sexual love fertility and warfare Ishtar ( D IŠTAR 𒀭𒌋𒁯 is the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to Kingu, also spelled Qingu meaning unskilled laborer was a god in Babylonian mythology and — after the murder of his father — the consort of the goddess Tiamat In the Akkadian epic Enuma Elish, Kishar is the daughter of Lahmu and Lahamu, the first children of Tiamat and Apsu Laḫmu (also romanized Lakhmu) is a deity from Akkadian mythology, first-born son of Apsu and Tiamat. Lahamu was the first-born daughter of Tiamat and Apsu in Akkadian mythology. Marduk ( Sumerian spelling in Akkadian: AMARUTU 𒀫 𒌓 "solar calf" perhaps from MERI Mummu Vizier of primeval gods Apsu, the fresh water and Tiamat, the salt water Nabu is the Babylonian god of Wisdom and Writing, worshipped by Babylonians as the son of Marduk and his consort Sarpanitum, In Sumerian mythology, Nammu (more properly Namma) is the Sumerian creation goddess Sin (Akkadian Sîn, Suen; Sumerian Nanna) is a Sumerian God in Mesopotamian mythology. Sin (Akkadian Sîn, Suen; Sumerian Nanna) is a Sumerian God in Mesopotamian mythology. The name Nergal (or Nirgal, Nirgali) refers to a Deity in Babylonia with the main seat Ningishzida ( sum dnin-ǧiš-zi-da) is a Mesopotamian deity of the Underworld. In Sumerian mythology, Ninhursag (NINURSAG was the earth and mother- Goddess, one of the seven great deities of Sumer. In Sumerian mythology, Ninlil (𒀭𒊩𒌆𒆤 D NIN.LÍL"lady of the open field" or "Lady of the Air" first called In Babylonian mythology, Tiamat is the sea personified as a Goddess, and a monstrous embodiment of Primordial chaos. This article refers to the Sumerian Deity. For other uses see Utu (disambiguation. For the Canaanite sun godess see Shemesh Shamash was the common Akkadian name of the Sun-god and god of justice in Babylonia Ancient Egyptian religion was Polytheistic and often Zoomorphic. Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu (also spelled Amon, Amoun, Amen, and rarely Imen, Greek Ἄμμων Ra (pronounced Rah and sometimes as Rê, is an Ancient Egyptian sun god. In Egyptian mythology, Bakha (also spelt Bakh, Buchis, and Bukhis) was the Manifestation of the a deification of Ka (power/life-force Osiris ( Greek language, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Aser, Ausar, Ausir In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (also spelt Peteh) was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead Cosmogony, which was more literally The Masoretic Text ( MT) is the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible ( Tanakh) The Samaritan Hebrew language is a descendant of Biblical Hebrew as pronounced and written by the Samaritans It is used in the reading tradition of the Samaritan It derives from the Hebrew root ‘lh, Semitic root ‘ly 'go up, ascend'. The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, ‘Elyōn when it means God or is applied to God is often translated 'Most High'. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. The Septuagint renders it as ὕψιστος (hypsistos 'most high'). The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the

Contents

Biblical use

Mundane use

The term also has mundane uses, being applied to a basket in Genesis 40. 17, a chamber in Ezekiel 42. The Book of Ezekiel is a book of the Hebrew Bible (of the Books of the Bible) named after the prophet Ezekiel. 5 and others.

Divine use

The compound Ēl ‘Elyōn

The compound name Ēl ‘Elyōn 'God Most High' occurs in Genesis 14. Eli (Hebrew אל is the Northwest Semitic word and name either translated into English as "god" or "God" or left untranslated as Eli, depending 18–19 as the god whose priest was Melchizedek king of Salem. Melchizedek is an enigmatic figure twice mentioned in the Hebrew Tanakh and in the Christian Old Testament. The form appears again almost immediately in verse 22, used by Abraham in an oath to the King of Sodom. Abraham ( Ashkenazi   Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: In this verse the name of God also occurs in apposition to Ēl ‘Elyōn in the Masoretic text but is absent in the Samaritan version, in the Septuagint translation, and in Symmachus. The Masoretic Text ( MT) is the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible ( Tanakh)

Its occurrence here was one foundation of a theory first espoused by Julius Wellhausen that Ēl ‘Elyōn was an ancient god of Salem (for other reasons understood here to mean Jerusalem), later equated with God, and that the Zadokite priests of Jerusalem claimed to be descended from this Melchizedek or at least to have inherited his position. Julius Wellhausen ( May 17, 1844 - January 7, 1918) was a German biblical scholar and Orientalist. Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the Zadok ( Hebrew: צדוק Tzadok meaning "Righteous" was an Israelite High Priest in the tenth century BC

The only other occurrence of the compound expression is in Psalm 78. Psalms ( Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים, or "praises" is a book of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) included 35:

And they remembered that God (’elōhīm) was their rock,
and God Most High (’ēl ‘elyōn) their redeemer.

It has been suggested that the reference to 'Ēl ‘Elyōn maker of heaven and earth' in Genesis 14:19 and 22 reflects the belief that ‘Elyōn was progenitor of Ouranus and Gê, as suggested in Philo of Byblos's account of Phoenician History. Eli (Hebrew אל is the Northwest Semitic word and name either translated into English as "god" or "God" or left untranslated as Eli, depending Uranus (ˈjʊərənəs jʊˈreɪnəs is the Latinized form of Ouranos () the Greek word for Sky. Gaia (ˈgeɪə or /ˈgaɪə/ (" land " or " Earth " from the Ancient Greek Γαîα also Gæa or Gea The more famous Philo of Alexandria (20 BCE-40 CE was an educated Hellenized Jewish philosopher

‘Elyōn standing alone

The name ‘Elyōn 'Most High' standing alone is found in many poetic passages, especially in the Psalms.

It appears in Balaam's verse oracle in Numbers 24. Balaam ( Hebrew: בִּלְעָם, Standard Bilʻam Tiberian Bilʻām) is a Prophet The Book of Numbers, ( Bamidbar, meaning in the wilderness) is the fourth book of the Torah, the Tanakh, and the Old Testament. 16 as a separate name parallel to Ēl. It appears in Moses' final song in Deuteronomy 32. Moses ( Latin: Moyses,; Greek: grc Mωυσής in both the Septuagint and the New Testament; Arabic: ar موسىٰ Deuteronomy (Greek deuteronomion, Δευτερονόμιον "second law" is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament 8 (a much discussed verse). A translation of the Masoretic text:

When the Most High (‘Elyōn) divided to the nations their inheritance,
he separated the sons of man (Ādām);
he set the bounds of the people
according to the number of the sons of Israel

However many Septuagint manuscripts have in place of "sons of Israel", angelōn theou 'angels of God' and a few have huiōn theou 'sons of God'. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. The Dead Sea Scrolls fragment 4QDeutj reads bny ’lwhm 'sons of God'. The Dead Sea Scrolls consist of roughly 1000 documents including texts from the Hebrew Bible, discovered between 1947 and 1979 in eleven Caves This reading also makes more sense in respect to the following verse:

For God's portion is his people;
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. Jacob ( Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard   Yaʿaqov Tiberian   Yaʿăqōḇ;

This passage appears to identify ‘Elyōn with Elohim, but not necessarily with God. It can be read to mean that ‘Elyōn separated mankind into 70 nations according to his 70 sons (the 70 sons of Ēl being mentioned in the Ugaritic texts), each of these sons to be the tutelary god over one of the 70 nations, one of them being the God of Israel, Yahweh. The Ugaritic language, discovered by French archaeologists in 1928 is known only in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit, near the modern Alternatively, it may mean that ‘Elyōn, having given the other nations to his sons, now takes Israel for himself under his name of God. See also Yahweh Tetragrammaton (from the Greek, meaning ' of four letters' (tetra "four" + gramma (gen Both interpretations have supporters.

In Isaiah 14. The Book of Isaiah ( Hebrew: Sefer Y'sha'yah ספר ישעיה is a book of the Bible traditionally attributed to the Prophet Isaiah, who lived 13–14 ‘Elyōn is used in a very mystical context in the passage providing the basis for later speculation on the fall of Satan where the rebellious prince of Babylon is pictured as boasting:

I shall be enthroned in the mount of the council in the farthest north [or farthest Zaphon]
I will ascend about the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High. Satan, ( Standard Hebrew Satan'el, English accuser) is a term that originates from the Abrahamic faiths, being traditionally Babylon was a City-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq

In this context it would be natural to avoid the name Yahweh and use a more general term for the high god.

But ’Elyōn is in other places firmly identified with God, as in 2 Samuel 22. The Books of Samuel ( Hebrew: Sefer Sh'muel ספר שמואל are part of the Tanakh (part of Judaism 's Hebrew Bible) and also of 14:

God thundered from heaven,
and the Most High uttered his voice.

Also Psalm 97. 9:

For you, God, are Most High (‘elyōn) over all the earth;
you are raised high over all the gods.

Scholarship

The critical scholar and Reform rabbi Abraham Geiger asserted that Elyōn was a word of late origin, dating it to the time of the Maccabees. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently subjected to vandalism and the insertion of personal opinions Rabbi (pronunciation, although in English usually) in Judaism, means a religious ‘teacher’ or more literally ‘my great one’ when addressing any master Abraham Geiger (1810&ndash1874 was a German Rabbi and scholar who led in the foundation of Reform Judaism, seeking to remove all nationalistic elements The Maccabees ( Hebrew: מכבים or מקבים, Makabim or Maqabim; Greek Μακκαβαῖοι, /makav'εï/ were However, its use in the Ras Shamra tablets has proven it to be pre-Mosaic (Hertz 1936)

Non-Biblical use

Sfire I Treaty

Outside of the Biblical texts the term occurs seldom. Ugarit ( Ugaritic: ʼugrt; Hebrew:; Arabic:) (modern Ras Shamra رأس شمرة ("top/head/cape of the wild Fennel The most controversial is in the earliest of three Aramaic treaty inscriptions found at Sfire 16 miles southeast of Aleppo . For other meanings see Aleppo (disambiguation. Halab redirects here for other meanings see Halab (disambiguation. The Sfire I inscription (KAI. 222. I. A. 8–12; ANET p.  659) date to about 750 BC lists the major patron deities of each side, all of them in pairs coupled by "and", in each case a male god and the god's spouse when the names are known. Events and trends 756 BC — Founding of Cyzicus. 755 BC — Ashur-nirari V succeeds Ashur-Dan III as king of Assyria Then, after a gap comes ’l w‘lyn meaning '’Ēl and ‘Elyōn', seemingly also two separate gods, followed by further pairs of deities.

It is possible that these indicate two aspects of the same god. Or it might be a single divine name. The Ugaritic texts contain divine names like Kothar-wa-Khasis 'Skilful-and-Clever', Mot-wa-Shar 'Death-and-Prince' (or possibly 'Death-and-Destruction'), Nikkal-and-Ib which is in origin the name of the Sumerian goddess named Ningal combined with an element of unknown meaning. The Ugaritic language, discovered by French archaeologists in 1928 is known only in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit, near the modern Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian Akkadian Assyrian and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris Ningal ("Great Lady" in Sumerian mythology was a goddess of reeds daughter of Enki and Ningikurga and the consort of the moon god Nanna Therefore Ēl-wa-‘Elyōn might be a single name 'God-and-Highest' identical in meaning with Biblical Ēl ‘Elyōn even though this would be unqiue. Frank Moore Cross (1973) accepts all three interpretations as possibilities. Frank Moore Cross Jr (born July 13 1921 Ross, California) is a Professor Emeritus of the Harvard Divinity School, notable for both his work in the interpretation

Sanchuniathon

Yet in Sanchuniathon's euhemeristic account of the Phoenician deities, Elioun, whom he calls Hypsistos 'the highest' and who is therefore certainly ‘Elyōn, is quite separate from his Elus/Cronus who is the supreme god Ēl. Sanchuniathon is the purported Phoenician author of three lost works originally in the Phoenician language, surviving only in partial paraphrase and summary of a Cronus or Kronos, ( Ancient Greek Κρόνος Krónos) was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, divine descendants Sanchuniathon tells only:

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. Byblos ( Βύβλος) is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal (earlier Gubla) 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 Ēl and various other deities are born, though ancient texts refer to Ēl 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, who was in turn overthrown by his son Kumarbi. The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established Kumarbi is the Hurrian god son of Anu, and father of the Weather-God Teshub. A similar tradition seems to be at the basis of Sanchuniathon's account.

As to Beruth who is here ‘Elyōn's wife, a relationship with Hebrew bərīt 'covenant' or with the city of Beirut have both been suggested. Beirut (بيروت Bayrūt) is the Capital and Largest city of Lebanon with a population of over 2

Circle Trilogy

Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy uses "Elyon" as an allegorical name for God. The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker is a set of Christian novels about a man named Thomas Hunter who after a head injury wakes up in an alternate Ted Dekker (born 1961) is an Indonesian born American Author of several Fiction novels The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker is a set of Christian novels about a man named Thomas Hunter who after a head injury wakes up in an alternate

Land of Elyon

The Land of Elyon is a fantasy trilogy for children written by Patrick Carman. The Land of Elyon is a Trilogy of children's fantasy novels by Patrick Carman. The Land of Elyon is a Trilogy of children's fantasy novels by Patrick Carman. Patrick Carman is an American author of The Land of Elyon series and the Atherton series

See also

References and External links

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