Bel

in Accadian, A yrian and Babylonian mythology, a god; mentioned in Scripture, in Is. xlvi: 1; 44; in the Septuagint, in Baruch vi: 40, and in the apocryphal additions to the Book of Daniel, as well as by cla ical authors. It has been discovered that, prior to 1600 B. ©., the highly interesting Turanian people called Accadians, the inventors of the cuneiform writing, who wielded extensive authority in Western Asia before the Semitic A yrians and Babylonians had come into notice, worshipped as_ their first triad of gods, Anu, ruling over the heaven; Elu, Belu, or Bel, over the earth; and Ea, over the sea. Bel’s three children, or three of his children, were Shamas, the sun-god; Sin, the moon-god; and Ishtar, the Accadian Venus. Sayce shows that some first born children were vicariously offered in sacrifice by fire to the sun-god. From the Accadians, bum an sacrifice pa ed to various Semitic tribes and nations. Bel’s name Elu identifies him with the Phenic i an E!, who, in a time of trouble, offered his first born son, “the beloved,” on a high place, by fire. It is not settled whether or not Bel was the same also as the Pheenician Baal.