Image Details

Erich Lessing

Wielding a weapon in his right hand, a “lightning” spear in his left and wearing a dagger at his waist, chief Canaanite deity Baal is portrayed on this 4.6-foot-high limestone stela found on the acropolis of Ras Shamra in 1932. Two horns emerge from the top of Baal’s headdress, and two curls of hair hang below his headdress. Scholars suggest that the small figure standing on a pedestal under Baal’s left arm is someone under Baal’s protection or the king dressed as a priest or perhaps another deity.