&#;annī-Ba‘al Ḥann.ī = “my grace” or “grace of” | Ba‘al = “god Baal” Hannibal is the Latinized form of Ḥannība‘al, a Punic personal name from Carthaginian history. Because the now-extinct Punic language (also called Carthaginian) was a variety of Phoenician, it belongs to the Canaanite branch of the Semitic language family and was written in a 22-letter Phoenician alphabet, from right to left. This composite name consists of a derivation of the Semitic roots ḥnn (“to show favor,” “be gracious”) and b‘l (“lord,” “master”), the latter of which was the title of various ancient Near Eastern deities, including the chief […]
