Athtar- Canaanite GodDeity"The Terrible"
Also known as: Attar, Ashtar, and ʿAṯtar
Description
When Baal died and the rains stopped, Athtar climbed Mount Zaphon and sat upon the storm god's throne. His feet did not reach the footstool. His head did not reach the top of the seat. Too small to fill Baal's place, the morning star god descended to rule the waters below — the wells and channels that kept the world alive until the rains returned.
Mythology & Lore
The Failed King
Athtar was the Canaanite god of the morning star, Venus before dawn. His epithet was "the Terrible." The Baal Cycle told a different story.
When Mot swallowed Baal and dragged the storm god to the underworld, the rains stopped. The earth began to die. The goddess Athirat proposed that Athtar should ascend Mount Zaphon and take the empty throne.
Athtar climbed. He sat on the throne of Baal. His feet did not reach the footstool. His head did not reach the top of the seat. He was too small.
He acknowledged it himself. He would not rule from the mountain. He descended.
Lord of the Waters Below
Athtar took the earth instead. In the arid Levant, the dry season could last half the year, and when Baal's rains did not fall, the wells and irrigation channels were all that kept crops alive. These were Athtar's waters. The storm god ruled what fell from the sky. Athtar ruled what seeped up from below.
The arrangement held until Baal returned from the dead and reclaimed his throne. The rains came back. But the wells had not run dry.