Baal-Hammon- Canaanite GodDeity"Lord of the Brazier"
Also known as: Baʿal Ḥammon
Description
Punic stelae depict a bearded elder on a sphinx-flanked throne, wearing a feathered crown with solar rays. This was Baal-Hammon, chief god of Carthage, whose name opened every dedicatory inscription across the Punic world from North Africa to Spain, always paired with his consort Tanit.
Mythology & Lore
The Lord of Carthage
"To the Lady Tanit, Face of Baal, and to the Lord Baal-Hammon." This formula opened every Punic dedicatory inscription, carved into thousands of stelae from Carthage to Spain. Baal-Hammon was the chief god of the Punic world. Stelae depict him as a bearded elder seated on a throne flanked by sphinxes, wearing a feathered crown with solar rays. His name may mean "Lord of the Brazier," after the incense altars that burned before his image.
His consort was Tanit, the great goddess of Carthage. She was always named first on the inscriptions, but his authority anchored the pantheon. Together they received the offerings that Carthaginians carried to every temple across the western Mediterranean.
The Tophet
At the heart of Carthaginian sanctuaries stood the tophet: a precinct containing urns of cremated remains, buried beneath stelae dedicated to Baal-Hammon and Tanit. Thousands of children's bones filled these urns. Diodorus Siculus described infants placed on the outstretched arms of a bronze statue and dropped into flames below. Plutarch gave similar accounts.
Punic inscriptions use the term molk in connection with these offerings. Whether the word means sacrifice, vow fulfillment, or dedicatory gift remains unclear. What the stones preserve is simpler: Baal-Hammon's name, carved over and over, above the ashes.
Relationships
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