Baad's ted, Batsted

or BASTAD, ( bad's ted,) a seaport town of Sweden, 60 m. W.N.W. of Christianstadt; Lat. 56° 28′ N.; Lon. 12° 45′ Е. Baagoe, ( ba'go,) two small islands of Denmark, in the Baltic; Lat. 54° 56′ N.; Lon. 12° 3′ E. Baal, ( bai'al .) [Heb., lord, master, po e or.] (Myth.) The supreme male divinity of the Phoenicians and Cart hag in i ans. The cruel worship of Baal, together with that of Ashtoreth, was frequently introduced among the Israeli tes, especially at Samaria. The plural Baalim was applied to different modifications of the divinity. The temple and altars of B. were chiefly built on the tops of hills under trees, and on the roofs of houses. The worship of Baal gave employment to a numerous priesthood, who burned incense, sacrificed children, danced round the altar, and if their prayers were not speedily heard, cut themselves with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon them. Through all the Phœnician colonies we find traces of the worship of this god, in names, as Asdru- bal , Hanni- bal , ., and in inscriptions; nor need we hesitate to regard the Babylonian Bel or Belus as identical to B. , though perhaps under some modified form. The same perplexity occurs respecting the connection of this god with the heavenly bodies, as in regard to Ashtoreth. The more common opinion has been, that B. is the sun; and that, under this name, this luminary received divine honors. We find the worship of B. established among the Moabites in the time of Moses, ( Num . xxii. 41,) and through these nations the Israeli tes were seduced to the worship of this god, under the particular name of Baal-peor ( Num . xxv. 3-10; Deut . iv. 3). Notwithstanding the fearful punishment which their idolatry then brought upon them, the succeeding generations returned often to the worship of B. Baal'bec. See BALBEC.