 | El god: Encyclopedia II - El god - Ēl in Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic and Hittite texts
El god - Ēl in Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic and Hittite texts
A proto-Sinaitic mine inscription from Mount Sinai reads ’ld‘lm understood to be vocalized as ’il dū ‘ôlmi, 'Ēl Eternal' or 'God Eternal'.
The Egyptian god Ptah is given the title dū gitti 'Lord of Gath' in a prism from Lachish which has on its opposite face the name of Amenhotep II (c. 1435–1420 BCE) The title dū gitti is also found in Serābitṭ text 353. Cross (1973, p. 19) points out that Ptah is often called the lord (or one) of eternity and thinks it may be this identification of Ēl with Ptah that lead to the epithet ’olam 'eternal' being applied to Ēl so early and so consistently. (However in the Ugaritic texts Ptah is seemingly identified instead with the craftsman god Kothar-wa-Khasis.)
A Phoenician inscribed amulet of the 7th century BCE from Arslan Tash may refer to Ēl. Rosenthal (1969, p. 658) translated the text:
An eternal bond has been established for us. Ashshur has established (it) for us, and all the divine beings and the majority of the group of all the holy ones, through the bond of heaven and earth for ever, ...
However the text is translated by Cross (1973, p. 17):
The Eternal One (‘Olam) has made a covenant oath with us,
Asherah has made (a pact) with us.
And all the sons of El,
And the great council of all the Holy Ones.
With oaths of Heaven and Ancient Earth.
In some inscriptions the name ’Ēl qōne ’arṣ 'Ēl creator of Earth' appears, even including a late inscription at Leptis Magna in Tripolitania dating to 2nd century (KAI. 129). In Hittite texts the expression becomes the single name Ilkunirsa, this Ilkunirsa appearing as the husband of Asherdu (Asherah) and father of 77 or 88 sons.
In an Hurrian hymn to Ēl (published in Ugaritica V, text RS 24.278) he is called ’il brt and ’il dn which Cross (p. 39) takes as 'Ēl of the covenant' and 'Ēl the judge' respectively.
See Ba‘al Hammon for the possiblity that Ēl was identical with Ba‘al Hammon who was worshipped as the supreme god in Carthage. Muslim scholars contend that El should be pronounced 'AL' since the first letter of El is Alef which is pronounced A always, unless if the hidden vocal after it is E like in when hebrew Elohim means Gods or a God. Muslem scholars contend also that the second letter could be pronounced double L, and that all semetic civilizations never wrote vocals and then the A after L is also not pronounced, Also the H in Allah is not written at the end of words in Arabic and Hebrew. They contend thus that the word EL found in Antiquity as far as Ebla civilization ( destroyed in 2300 BC) is actually non other than Allah when pronounced according to the tradition of Semetic languages as explained. They bring a proof that the mail sent by Muhammad to Caesar and other kings had the word Allah written as AL only. Such letters are available to view on the internet.
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