By the Gods!

El

The supreme deity of the ancient Canaanites, El was big man on the Levant-campus back in the day. El was the father of Ba’al, who would eventually become more popular than his dad throughout the Middle-East, and husband of Asherah (a semitic mother goddess).

In many depictions, El wore the same bull horns as did Ba’al, though we often see him portrayed in the fancy hats of an ancient Mesopotamian king. The power of fancy hats was one worth flaunting, after all. Though his main priority was sitting in a throne, enjoying being the boss, he was accredited with being a patron deity of fertility, thunder, mountains, deserts, oceans, and war. A real Renaissance-god.

Now, even though Ba’al was the god of storm and sky (a position usually held by a chief deity) his papa was #1, at least in the inception of the Pantheon. El’s full title was El Shaddai, which loosely translates (we’re pretty sure, anyway) to God of the Mountain. The Mesopotamian Holy Mountain was a big deal, and a fitting place for a king of the Gods to dwell, one might think. El was too popular for his own good, though. Or, for our good, at least; he’s brought up in so many places in so many different forms, it’s difficult to pin down what exactly he was to whom.

The most popular reference to El would be in the Hebrew Torah, where El Shaddai is the God of Abraham, and is synonymous with Yahweh. Does this mean that Abraham was originally a practitioner of the Canaanite faith? Quite possible! But either way, it seems the Hebrews adopted the title of the supreme deity in Canaan and used it as a feather in Yahweh’s cap. Ol’ El has also drawn comparisons to the Babylonian Ea (Enki) and Poseidon, if you can believe it.

Whoever you are, El, you’re almost definitely a badass.

Neith

Originally the local goddess of Sais, situated in the Nile Delta of Lower Egypt, Neith rose to become the great mother of Egyptians. She was also a warrior goddess and a goddess of the home; she was a triple-threat. As a goddess of war, who was believed to march into battle ahead of the soldiers, her symbol was a shield with crossed arrows. It may be from Neith’s influence that the ancient Greeks developed a female god of battle and tactics in Athena. As so many soldiers prayed to Neith, they eventually came to regard her as a mother-deity as well, and looked for her protection in all things, not just battle. 

She was often said to be the mother of Sebek, the crocodile god, and was also credited with the creation of the terrible cosmic serpent Apep by spitting into Nun, the watery abyss. Bad habit, Neith. 

Neith eventually came to be regarded as the mother of all the gods, and in particular of Ra. She was sometimes seen as the celestial cow, Mehueret, who gave birth to the sky before life began. She also became the protectress of the dead, and is sometimes depicted offering them food and drink on their arrival in the underworld.

From humble beginnings, Neith rose to a principal place of honour in the Egyptian pantheon. When a deity is widely and deeply revered, it is common for that reverence to translate into the people moving the deity into every facet of their lives; they begin praying not to the deity of a specific task or place, but simply to their favourite deity. They form a bond, and eventually attribute new patronages out of reverence. Neith’s story is one that all the little deities can aspire to.