Name ’Ēl
Gender Masculine
Usage Canaanite
Scripts אל (Hebrew), ܐܠ (Syriac), إل (Arabic), إله (Arabic)
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Meaning & History
ʼĒl (or ʼIl, Ugaritic: ��; Phoenician: ��;1 Hebrew: אל; Syriac: ܐܠ; Arabic: إل or إله; cognate to Akkadian: �, romanized: ilu) is a Northwest Semitic word meaning "god" or "deity", or referring (as a proper name) to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities. A rarer form, ʼila, represents the predicate form in Old Akkadian and in Amorite. The word is derived from the Proto-Semitic archaic biliteral ʼ‑l, meaning "god".Specific deities known as ʼEl or ʼIl include the supreme god of the ancient Canaanite religion3 and the supreme god of East Semitic speakers in Mesopotamia’s Early Dynastic Period.