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Ēl depicted with two lions on the back of the handle of the Gebel el-Arak Knife^{[dubious – discuss][1]}

ʾĒl (written aleph-lamed, e.g. Ugaritic: 𐎛𐎍, Phoenician: 𐤀𐤋, Classical Syriac: ܐܠ‎, Hebrew: אל‎, Arabic: إل‎ or Arabic: إله‎, cognate to Akkadian: ilu) is a Northwest Semitic word meaning "deity".

In the Canaanite religion, or Levantine religion as a whole, Ēl or Il was the supreme god, the father of humankind and all creatures and the husband of the goddess Asherah as recorded in the clay tablets of Ugarit (modern Rās Shamrā - Arabic: رأس شمرا‎, Syria).^[2]

The noun ʾēl was found at the top of a list of gods as the Ancient of gods or the Father of all gods, in the ruins of the royal archive of the Ebla civilization, in the archaeological site of Tell Mardikh in Syria dated to 2300 BC. The bull was symbolic to Ēl and his son Ba'al Hadad, and they both wore bull horns on their headdress. ^[3][4][5][6] He may have been a desert god at some point, as the myths say that he had two wives and built a sanctuary with them and his new children in the desert. Ēl had fathered many gods, but most important were Hadad, Yam, and Mot.

Linguistic forms and meanings[link]

Cognate forms are found throughout the Semitic languages. They include Ugaritic ʾil, pl. ʾlm; Phoenician ʾl pl. ʾlm; Hebrew ʾēl, pl. ʾēlîm; Aramaic ʾl; Akkadian ilu, pl. ilānu.

In Northwest Semitic usage ʾl was both a generic word for any "god" and the special name or title of a particular god who was distinguished from other gods as being "the god", or in the monotheistic sense, God.^[7] Ēl is listed at the head of many pantheons. Ēl was the father god among the Canaanites.

However, because the word sometimes refers to a god other than the great god Ēl, it is frequently ambiguous as to whether Ēl followed by another name means the great god Ēl with a particular epithet applied or refers to another god entirely. For example, in the Ugaritic texts ʾil mlk is understood to mean "Ēl the King" but ʾil hd as "the god Hadad".

The Semitic root ʾlh (Arabic ʾilāh, Aramaic ʾalāh, ʾelāh, Hebrew ʾelōah) may be ʾlu with a parasitic h. In Ugaritic the plural form meaning "gods" is ʾilhm, equivalent to Hebrew ʾ^elōhîm "gods". But in Hebrew this word is also regularly used for semantically singular "God" or "god".

The stem ʾl is found prominently in the earliest strata of east Semitic, northwest Semitic, and south Semitic groups. Personal names including the stem ʾl are found with similar patterns both in Amorite and South Arabic which indicates that probably already in Proto-Semitic ʾl was both a generic term for "god" and the common name or title of a single particular "god" or "God".

Proto-Sinaitic, Phoenician, Aramaic, and Hittite texts[link]

A proto-Sinaitic mine inscription from Mount Sinai reads ʼlḏ‘lm understood to be vocalized as ʼil ḏū ‘ôlmi, 'ʼĒl Eternal' or 'God Eternal'.

The Egyptian god Ptah is given the title ḏū gitti 'Lord of Gath' in a prism from Lachish which has on its opposite face the name of Amenhotep II (c. 1435–1420 BCE) The title ḏū gitti is also found in Serābitṭ text 353. Cross (1973, p. 19) points out that Ptah is often called the lord (or one) of eternity and thinks it may be this identification of ʼĒl with Ptah that lead to the epithet ’olam 'eternal' being applied to ʼĒl so early and so consistently.^[8] (However in the Ugaritic texts Ptah is seemingly identified instead with the craftsman god Kothar-wa-Khasis.)^[9]

Part of the myth series on
Fertile Crescent
Mesopotamian mythology Ancient Arabian mythology Ancient Levantine mythology
Pre-Islamic Arabian gods
Abgal Aglibol Al-Qaum al-Lāt, al-'Ilāhat Astarte Atargatis (Syrian) Atarsamain Beelshamen Bēl, Baʕl, Bēl-Šamīn Bes (Egypto-Arabic) Dhu'l-Halasa Dusares, Dhu Sharā' Ēl, Ilāh (NW Semitic) Hubal Ištar, Athtar Malakbel Manāt Manaf Nabū, Nebo Nasr Nergal Nuha Orotalt Ruda Shams, Samas Sīn, Nanna-Suen Suwa' ʕUzzā Wadd Ya'uq Yaghūth Yarhibol/Malakbel demons
v t e

A Phoenician inscribed amulet of the 7th century BCE from Arslan Tash may refer to ʼĒl. The text was translated by Rosenthal (1969, p. 658) as follows:

An eternal bond has been established for us.
Ashshur has established (it) for us,
and all the divine beings
and the majority of the group of all the holy ones,
through the bond of heaven and earth for ever, ...^[10]

However, Cross (1973, p. 17) translated the text as follows:

The Eternal One (‘Olam) has made a covenant oath with us,
Asherah has made (a pact) with us.
And all the sons of El,
And the great council of all the Holy Ones.
With oaths of Heaven and Ancient Earth.^[11]

In some inscriptions the name ’Ēl qōne ’arṣ meaning "ʼĒl creator of Earth" appears, even including a late inscription at Leptis Magna in Tripolitania dating to 2nd century (KAI. 129). In Hittite texts the expression becomes the single name Ilkunirsa, this Ilkunirsa appearing as the husband of Asherdu (Asherah) and father of 77 or 88 sons.^[12]

In a Hurrian hymn to ʼĒl (published in Ugaritica V, text RS 24.278) he is called ’il brt and ’il dn which Cross (p. 39) takes as 'ʼĒl of the covenant' and 'ʼĒl the judge' respectively.^[13]

Amorites[link]

Amorite inscriptions from Zinčirli refer to numerous gods, sometimes by name, sometimes by title, especially by such titles as ilabrat 'god of the people'(?), il abīka 'god of your father', il abīni 'god of our father' and so forth. Various family gods are recorded, divine names listed as belong to a particular family or clan, sometimes by title and sometimes by name, including the name Il 'god'. In Amorite personal names the most common divine elements are Il ('God'), Hadad/Adad, and Dagan. It is likely that Il is also very often the god called in Akkadian texts Amurru or Il Amurru.

Ugarit[link]

For the Canaanites, Ēl or Il was the supreme god, the father of mankind and all creatures.^[14] He may have been a desert god at some point, as the myths say that he had two wives and built a sanctuary with them and his new children in the desert. El had fathered many gods, but most important were Hadad, Yam, and Mot, each share similar attributes to the Greco-Roman gods: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades respectively.

Three pantheon lists found at Ugarit begin with the four gods ’il-’ib (which according to Cross (1973; p. 14) is the name of a generic kind of deity, perhaps the divine ancestor of the people), Ēl, Dagnu (that is Dagon), and Ba’l Ṣapān (that is the god Haddu or Hadad).^[15] Though Ugarit had a large temple dedicated to Dagon and another to Hadad, there was no temple dedicated to Ēl.

Ēl is called again and again Tôru ‘Ēl ("Bull Ēl" or "the bull god"). He is bātnyu binwāti ("Creator of creatures"), ’abū banī ’ili ("father of the gods"), and ‘abū ‘adami ("father of man"). He is qāniyunu ‘ôlam ("creator eternal"), the epithet ‘ôlam appearing in Hebrew form in the Hebrew name of God ’ēl ‘ôlam "God Eternal" in Genesis 21.33. He is ḥātikuka ("your patriarch"). Ēl is the grey-bearded ancient one, full of wisdom, malku ("king"), ’abū šamīma ("father of years"), ’ēl gibbōr ("Ēl the warrior"). He is also named lṭpn of unknown meaning, variously rendered as Latpan, Latipan, or Lutpani ("shroud-face" by Strong's Hebrew Concordance).

The mysterious Ugaritic text Shachar and Shalim tells how (perhaps near the beginning of all things) Ēl came to shores of the sea and saw two women who bobbed up and down. Ēl was sexually aroused and took the two with him, killed a bird by throwing a staff at it, and roasted it over a fire. He asked the women to tell him when the bird was fully cooked, and to then address him either as husband or as father, for he would thenceforward behave to them as they call him. They saluted him as husband. He then lies with them, and they gave birth to Shachar ("Dawn") and Shalim ("Dusk"). Again Ēl lies with his wives and the wives give birth to "the gracious gods", "cleavers of the sea", "children of the sea". The names of these wives are not explicitly provided, but some confusing rubrics at the beginning of the account mention the goddess Athirat who is otherwise Ēl's chief wife and the goddess Rahmay ("Merciful"), otherwise unknown.

In the Ugaritic Ba‘al cycle Ēl is introduced dwelling on (or in) Mount Lel (Lel possibly meaning 'Night') at the fountains of the two rivers at the spring of the two deeps. He dwells in a tent according to some interpretations of the text which may explain why he had no temple in Ugarit. As to the rivers and the spring of the two deeps, these might refer to real streams, or to the mythological sources of the salt water ocean and the fresh water sources under the earth, or to the waters above the heavens and the waters beneath the earth.

In the episode of the "Palace of Ba‘al", the god Ba‘al/Hadad invites the "70 sons of Athirat" to a feast in his new palace. Presumably these sons have been fathered on Athirat by Ēl; in following passages they seem be the gods (’ilm) in general or at least a large portion of them. The only sons of Ēl named individually in the Ugaritic texts are Yamm ("Sea"), Mot ("Death"), and Ashtar, who may be the chief and leader of most of the sons of Ēl. Ba‘al/Hadad is a few times called Ēl's son rather than the son of Dagan as he is normally called, possibly because Ēl is in the position of a clan-father to all the gods.

The fragmentary text RS 24.258 describes a banquet to which Ēl invites the other gods and then disgraces himself by becoming outrageously drunk and passing out after confronting an otherwise unknown Hubbay, "he with the horns and tail". The text ends with an incantation for the cure of some disease, possibly hangover.^[16][17]

Hebrew Bible[link]

The Hebrew form (אל) appears in Latin letters in Standard Hebrew transcription as El and in Tiberian Hebrew transcription as ʾĒl.

El is a generic word for god that could be used for any god including Baal, Moloch,^[18] or Yahweh.

In the Tanakh, ’^elōhîm is the normal word for a god or the great god (or gods, given that the 'im' suffix makes a word plural in Hebrew). But the form ’ēl also appears, mostly in poetic passages and in the patriarchal narratives attributed to the P source. It occurs 217 times in the Masoretic text: 73 times in the Psalms and 55 times in the Book of Job, and otherwise mostly in poetic passages or passages written in elevated prose. It occasionally appears with the definite article as hā’Ēl 'the God' (for example in 2 Samuel 22:31,33–48).

The theological position of the Tanakh is that the names Ēl and ’Ĕlōhîm, when used in the singular to mean the supreme and active 'God', refer to the same being as does the name, Yahweh. All three refer to the one supreme god who is the god of Israel, beside whom other gods are supposed to be either non-existent or insignificant. Whether this was a longstanding belief or a relatively new one has long been the subject of inconclusive scholarly debate about the prehistory of the sources of the Tanakh and about the prehistory of Israelite religion. In the P strand, YHVH says in Exodus 6:2–3:

I revealed myself to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as Ēl Shaddāi, but was not known to them by my name, Yahweh.

This suggests the identity of Yahweh with either Ēl, in his aspect of Shaddāi, or with a god called Shaddāi.^{[citation needed]} Also suggested is that the name Yahweh is a more recent revelation.^{[citation needed]} Before El's revelation with the name of Yahweh, it is said in Genesis 14:18–20 that Abraham accepted the blessing of El, when Melchizedek, the king of Salem and high priest of its deity El Elyon .^[19] One scholarly position is that the identification of Yahweh with Ēl is late, that Yahweh was earlier thought of as only one of many gods, and not normally identified with Ēl. In some places, especially in Psalm 29, Yahweh is clearly envisioned as a storm god, something not true of Ēl so far as we know (though true of his son, Ba'al/Hadad). (Noted Parallel: El is derived from Sumerian Enlil, God of Wind.^[20]) It is Yahweh who fights Leviathan in Isaiah 27:1; Psalm 74:14; Job 3:8 & Job 40:25–41:1, a deed attributed both to Ba’al/Hadad and ‘Anat in the Ugaritic texts, but not to Ēl.

Such mythological motifs are variously seen as late survivals from a period when Yahweh held a place in theology comparable to that of Hadad at Ugarit; or as late henotheistic/monotheistic applications to Yahweh of deeds more commonly attributed to Hadad; or simply as examples of eclectic application of the same motifs and imagery to various different gods. Similarly, it is argued inconclusively whether Ēl Shaddāi, Ēl ‘Ôlām, Ēl ‘Elyôn, and so forth, were originally understood as separate divinities. Albrecht Alt presented his theories on the original differences of such gods in Der Gott der Väter in 1929.^[21] But others have argued that from patriarchal times these different names were indeed generally understood to refer to the same single great god, Ēl. This is the position of Frank Moore Cross (1973).^[22] What is certain is that the form ’ēl does appear in Israelite names from every period including the name Yiśrā’ēl ('Israel'), meaning 'ēl strives' or 'struggled with él'.

According to The Oxford Companion to World Mythology’’,

It seems almost certain that the God of the Jews evolved gradually from the Canaanite El, who was in all likelihood the 'God of Abraham'... If El was the high god of Abraham - Elohim, the prototype of Yahveh - Asherah was his wife, and there are archeological indications that she was perceived as such before she was in effect 'divorced' in the context of emerging Judaism of the seventh century B.C.E. (See 2 Kings 23:15)".^[23]

The apparent plural form ’Ēlîm or ’Ēlim 'gods' occurs only four times in the Tanakh. Psalm 29, understood as an enthronement psalm, begins:

A Psalm of David.
Ascribe to Yahweh, sons of gods (b^ênê ’Ēlîm),
Ascribe to Yahweh, glory and strength

Psalm 89:6 (verse 7 in Hebrew) has:

For who in the skies compares to Yahweh,
who can be likened to Yahweh among the sons of gods (b^ênê ’Ēlîm).

Traditionally b^ênê ’ēlîm has been interpreted as 'sons of the mighty', 'mighty ones', for, indeed ’ēl can mean 'mighty', though such use may be metaphorical (compare the English expression God-awful). It is possible also that the expression ’ēlîm in both places descends from an archaic stock phrase in which ’lm was a singular form with the m-enclitic and therefore to be translated as 'sons of Ēl'. The m-enclitic appears elsewhere in the Tanakh and in other Semitic languages. Its meaning is unknown, possibly simply emphasis. It appears in similar contexts in Ugaritic texts where the expression bn ’il alternates with bn ’ilm, but both must mean 'sons of Ēl'. That phrase with m-enclitic also appears in Phoenician inscriptions as late as the 5th century BCE.

One of the other two occurrences in the Tanakh is in the "Song of Moses", Exodus 15:11a:

Who is like you among the gods (’ēlim), Yahweh?

The final occurrence is in Daniel 11:36:

And the king will do according to his pleasure; and he will exalt himself and magnify himself over every god (’ēl), and against the God of gods (’ēl ’ēlîm) he will speak outrageous things, and will prosper until the indignation is accomplished: for that which is decided will be done.

There are a few cases in the Tanakh where some think ’ēl referring to the great god Ēl is not equated with Yahweh. One is in Ezekiel 28:2, in the taunt against a man who claims to be divine, in this instance, the leader of Tyre:

Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: "Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because your heart is proud and you have said: "I am ’ēl (God), in the seat of ’^elōhîm (God or gods), I am enthroned in the middle of the seas." Yet you are man and not ’ēl even though you have made your heart like the heart of ’^elōhîm ('God' or 'gods').'"

Here ’ēl might refer to a generic god, or to a highest god, Ēl. When viewed as applying to the King of Tyre specifically, the king was probably not thinking of Yahweh. When viewed a general taunt against anyone making divine claims, it may or may not refer to Yahweh depending on the context.

In Judges 9:46 we find ’Ēl B^êrît 'God of the Covenant', seemingly the same as the Ba‘al B^êrît 'Lord of the Covenant' whose worship has been condemned a few verses earlier. See Baal for a discussion of this passage.

Psalm 82:1 says:

’^elōhîm ('God') stands in the council of ’ēl
he judges among the gods (elohim).

This could mean that God, that is Yahweh, judges along with many other gods as one of the council of the high god Ēl. However it can also mean that God, that is Yahweh, stands in the divine council (generally known as the Council of Ēl), as Ēl judging among the other members of the Council. The following verses in which God condemns those whom he says were previously named gods (elohim) and sons of the Most High suggest God is here indeed Ēl judging the lesser gods.

An archaic phrase appears in Isaiah 14:13, kôkk^êbê ’ēl 'stars of God', referring to the circumpolar stars that never set, possibly especially to the seven stars of Ursa Major. The phrase also occurs in the Pyrgi Inscription as hkkbm ’l (preceded by the definite article h and followed by the m-enclitic). Two other apparent fossilized expressions are arzê-’ēl 'cedars of God' (generally translated something like 'mighty cedars', 'goodly cedars') in Psalm 80:10 (in Hebrew verse 11) and k^êharrê-’ēl 'mountains of God' (generally translated something like 'great mountains', 'mighty mountains') in Psalm 36:7 (in Hebrew verse 6).

For the reference in some texts of Deuteronomy 32:8 to seventy sons of God corresponding to the seventy sons of Ēl in the Ugaritic texts see ’Elyôn.

Sanchuniathon[link]

Philo of Byblos (c. 64-141 CE) was a Greek writer whose account Sanchuniathon survives in quotation by Eusebius and may contain the major surviving traces of Phoenician mythology. Ēl (rendered Elus or called by his standard Greek counterpart Cronus) is not the creator god or first god. Ēl is rather the son of Sky and Earth. Sky and Earth are themselves children of ‘Elyôn 'Most High'.^{[citation needed]} Ēl is brother to the god Bethel, to Dagon, and to an unknown god equated with the Greek Atlas, and to the goddesses Aphrodite/’Ashtart, Rhea (presumably Asherah), and Dione (equated with Ba’alat Gebal). Ēl is father of Persephone and of Athene (presumably the goddess ‘Anat).

Sky and Earth have separated from one another in hostility, but Sky insists on continuing to force himself on Earth, and attempts to destroy the children born of such unions. At last Ēl, son of Sky and Earth, with the advice of the god Thoth and Ēl's daughter Athene successfully attacks his father Sky with a sickle and spear of iron. So he and his allies the Eloim gain Sky's kingdom. In a later passage it is explained that Ēl castrated Sky. One of Sky's concubines (who was given to Ēl's brother Dagon) was already pregnant by Sky. The son who is born of this union, called Demarûs or Zeus, but once called Adodus, is obviously Hadad, the Ba‘al of the Ugaritic texts who now becomes an ally of his grandfather Sky and begins to make war on Ēl.

Ēl has three wives, his sisters or half-sisters Aphrodite/Astarte (‘Ashtart), Rhea (presumably Asherah), and Dione (identified by Sanchuniathon with Ba‘alat Gebal the tutelary goddess of Byblos, a city which Sanchuniathon says that Ēl founded).

Eusebius of Caesarea, through whom Sanchuniathon is preserved, is not interested in setting the work forth completely or in order. But we are told that Ēl slew his own son Sadidus (a name that some commentators think might be a corruption of Shaddai, one of the epithets of the Biblical Ēl) and that Ēl also beheaded one of his daughters. Later, perhaps referring to this same death of Sadidus we are told:

But on the occurrence of a pestilence and mortality Cronus offers his only begotten son as a whole burnt-offering to his father Sky and circumcises himself, compelling his allies also to do the same.

A fuller account of the sacrifice appears later:

It was a custom of the ancients in great crises of danger for the rulers of a city or nation, in order to avert the common ruin, to give up the most beloved of their children for sacrifice as a ransom to the avenging daemons; and those who were thus given up were sacrificed with mystic rites. Cronus then, whom the Phoenicians call Elus, who was king of the country and subsequently, after his decease, was deified as the star Saturn, had by a nymph of the country named Anobret an only begotten son, whom they on this account called Iedud, the only begotten being still so called among the Phoenicians; and when very great dangers from war had beset the country, he arrayed his son in royal apparel, and prepared an altar, and sacrificed him.

The account also relates that Thoth:

... also devised for Cronus as insignia of royalty four eyes in front and behind ... but two of them quietly closed, and upon his shoulders four wings, two as spread for flying, and two as folded. And the symbol meant that Cronus could see when asleep, and sleep while waking: and similarly in the case of the wings, that he flew while at rest, and was at rest when flying. But to each of the other gods he gave two wings upon the shoulders, as meaning that they accompanied Cronus in his flight. And to Cronus himself again he gave two wings upon his head, one representing the all-ruling mind, and one sensation.

This is the form under which Ēl/Cronus appears on coins from Byblos from the reign of Antiochus IV (175–164 BCE) four spread wings and two folded wings, leaning on a staff. Such images continued to appear on coins until after the time of Augustus.

Poseidon[link]

A bilingual inscription from Palmyra (KAI. 11, p. 43; KAI 129) dated to the first century equates Ēl-Creator-of-the-Earth with the Greek god Poseidon. Going back to the eighth century BCE the bilingual inscription (KAI 26) at Karatepe in the Taurus Mountains equates Ēl-Creator-of-the-Earth to Luwian hieroglyphs read as ^da-a-ś,^[24] this being the Luwian form of the name of the Babylonian water god Ea, lord of the abyss of water under the earth. (This inscription lists Ēl in second place in the local pantheon, following Ba`al Shamîm and preceding the Eternal Sun.)

Poseidon is known to have been worshipped in Beirut, his image appearing on coins from that city. Poseidon of Beirut was also worshipped at Delos where there was an association of merchants, shipmasters, and warehousemen called the Poseidoniastae of Berytus founded in 110 or 109 BCE. Three of the four chapels at its headquarters on the hill northwest of the Sacred Lake were dedicated to Poseidon, the Tyche of the city equated with Astarte (that is ‘Ashtart), and to Eshmun.

Also at Delos that association of Tyrians, though mostly devoted to Heracles-Melqart, elected a member to bear a crown every year when sacrifices to Poseidon took place. A banker named Philostratus donated two altars, one to Palaistine Aphrodite Urania (‘Ashtart) and one to Poseidon "of Ascalon".

Though Sanchuniathon distinguishes Poseidon from his Elus/Cronus, this might be a splitting off of a particular aspect of Ēl in a euhemeristic account. Identification of an aspect of Ēl with Poseidon rather than with Cronus might have been felt to better fit with Hellenistic religious practice, if indeed this Phoenician Poseidon really is Ēl who dwells at the source of the two deeps in Ugaritic texts. More information is needed to be certain.

See also[link]

	Mythology portal
	Ancient Near East portal

• Elohim
• Ilah
• Theophory in the Bible
• The names of God in Judaism
• Yahweh
• El (disambiguation)

Look up *ʾil- in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• Binger, Tilde (July 1997). Asherah: goddesses in Ugarit, Israel and the Old Testament. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-85075-637-8. LCCN 97205267. OCLC 37525364. http://books.google.com/?id=pTrqkL5QjXkC&printsec=frontcover. 
• Kugel, James L. (September 2007). How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now. New York, NY: Free Press. ISBN 978-0-7432-3586-0. LCCN 2007023466. OCLC 181602277. http://books.google.de/?id=NwWBBUeePTQC. 
• Matthews, Victor Harold (August 2004). Judges and Ruth. New Cambridge Bible Commentary. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00066-6. LCCN 2003053218. OCLC 52380969. http://books.google.com/?id=vU6DjPDeUUEC&printsec=frontcover. 
• Smith, Mark S. (January 2001). The origins of biblical monotheism: Israel's polytheistic background and the Ugaritic texts. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513480-3. LCCN 99058180. OCLC 53388532. http://books.google.com/?id=S1tQ5Larst0C&printsec=frontcover. 
• van der Toorn, Karel; Becking, Bob; van der Horst, Pieter Willem (1999). Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (2nd ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-11119-6. LCCN 98042505. OCLC 39765350. http://books.google.com/?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&printsec=frontcover. 
• Wyatt, Nicolas (October 2002). Religious Texts from Ugarit. The Biblical Seminar. 53 (2nd ed.). Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8264-6048-6. LCCN 2002489996. OCLC 48979997. http://books.google.com/?id=m85MB7RkgEIC&printsec=frontcover. 

Further reading[link]

• Bruneau, Philippe (1970) (in French). Recherches sur les cultes de Délos à l'époque hellénistique et à l'époque imperiale. Paris: E. de Broccard. LCCN 78851163. OCLC 2349270. 
• Cross, Frank Moore (1973). Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-09176-4. LCCN 72076564. OCLC 185400934. http://books.google.de/?id=-eOycxXAoHMC. 
• Fontenrose, Joseph Eddy (1959). Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-04091-5. LCCN 59005144. OCLC 4089770. http://books.google.de/?id=wqeVv09Y6hIC. 
• Rosenthal, Franz (1969). "The Amulet from Arslan Tash". In Pritchard, James. Trans. in: Ancient Near Eastern Texts (3rd ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 658. ISBN 978-0-691-03503-1. OCLC 5342384. 
• Teixidor, Javier (1977). The Pagan God. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-07220-3. LCCN 76024300. OCLC 2644903. 

External links[link]

• Bartleby: American Heritage Dictionary: Semitic Roots: ʾl
• Pronunciation (Audio) of El

Gucci Mane
Gucci Mane performing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on August 29, 2010.
Background information
Birth name	Radric Davis
Born	(1980-02-02) February 2, 1980 (age 32) Birmingham, Alabama
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genres	Southern hip hop, gangsta rap
Occupations	Rapper
Years active	2005 – present
Labels	1017 Brick Squad Records, Asylum, Warner Bros.
Associated acts	1017 Brick Squad, Young Money, V-Nasty, Yo Gotti, Soulja Boy, Plies, Usher, Young Jeezy, E-40, French Montana, Maino, Jadakiss, CTE, Lil' Kim, Birdman
Website	www.guccimaneonline.com

Radric Davis^[1] (born February 2, 1980),^[2] better known by his stage name Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He debuted in 2005 with Trap House and followed with albums such as Hard to Kill in 2006, Trap-A-Thon and Back to the Trap House in 2007. In 2009, his second studio album The State vs. Radric Davis was released, and The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted was released in 2010, and is his highest charting album so far. Gucci Mane has released many other mixtapes and independent albums as well.

While serving a six-month jail term for assault in late 2005, Davis was charged with murder, though the charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence. In 2009, he served a year-long county jail sentence for violating probation for his 2005 aggravated assault conviction.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and later moved with his single mother to Atlanta. He enjoyed writing poetry as a child, and began rapping at age 14.^[1]

[edit] 2005–2006: Trap House and Hard to Kill

In 2005, Davis released his independent debut album entitled Trap House, which featured the successful single "Icy" with Young Jeezy. Disputes over the rights to this single caused a rift between the two artists. Hard to Kill followed in 2006. Hard To Kill included the hit single "Freaky Gurl". The song peaked at number 12 on the Hot Rap Tracks, number 19 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and at number 62 on the Hot 100.

[edit] 2007: Back to the Trap House

The official remix of Freaky Gurl featuring Ludacris and Lil Kim was included on his 2007 commercial debut album Back to the Trap House. Gucci Mane appeared on OJ da Juiceman's "Make Tha Trap Say Aye" and began working on various mixtapes.^[3] Gucci Mane signed to Warner Bros. Records in May 2009.^[4]

[edit] 2009–2010: The State vs. Radric Davis

He appeared on remixes of the songs "Boom Boom Pow" by The Black Eyed Peas, "Obsessed" by Mariah Carey and "5 Star Chick" by Yo Gotti and made a guest appearance on Mario's "Break Up" (he has made 17 guest appearances total in 2009). Gucci Mane's second studio album The State vs. Radric Davis was released under the label Warner Bros. Records on December 8, 2009. Its first single, "Wasted" featuring Plies, was originally from Mane's 2009 mixtape Writing on the Wall. It peaked at number 36 on the Hot 100, number 3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and number 3 on the Rap Songs making it Gucci Mane's most successful single to date. The second single is "Spotlight" featuring Usher. The third single is "Lemonade". The fourth single is "Bingo", featuring Waka Flocka Flame and Soulja Boy Tell 'Em. On October 2, 2009, Gucci Mane was listed at number 6 on MTV's annual Hottest MC in the Game list.^[5]

Gucci Mane performing on August 29, 2010.

[edit] 2010–present: The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted and other projects

After being released from jail, Gucci Mane stated that he would start or change the label name from So Icey Entertainment to 1017 Brick Squad Records. The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted, was released on September 28, 2010.^[6] The first single from this release was titled "Gucci Time",^[7] produced by Swizz Beatz. It premiered on Gucci Mane's official MySpace page on August 6.^[8] The single also features Swizz Beatz and was released to US urban radio stations on August 24, 2010.^[9]

On March 18, 2011, Gucci Mane released his 10th EP, The Return of Mr. Zone 6, mostly produced by Drumma Boy.^[10] It debuted at #18 on the Billboard 200, and is his highest charting EP. The album also debuted at #2 on the Rap albums chart and #8 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. He also released a collaboration album with Waka Flocka Flame named Ferrari Boyz on August 5, Gucci's first collaboration album.^[11] It's first single is "She Be Puttin On" featuring late-fellow Brick Squad labelmate Slim Dunkin. Ferrari Boyz debuted at #21 on the Billboard 200. Gucci Mane released another collaboration album, this time with rapper V-Nasty, called BAYTL, on December 13.^[12] The album's first single is "Whip Appeal" featuring P2theLA.^[13] Three days after the album's release, while traveling to the video shoot of "Push Ups", a song from BAYTL featuring Slim Dunkin, the latter got into an argument with another person who shot Dunkin dead at an Atlanta recording studio.^[14] On February 5, 2012, Gucci Mane released his Trap Back mixtape. It features guest appearances from Yo Gotti, Rocko, Waka Flocka Flame, Jadakiss, 2 Chainz, and Future, the latter three recently appearing on Young Jeezy's third studio album Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition. The first single is the mixtape's title track.^[15] Music videos have been filmed for the songs "Quiet", "Face Card", "In Love With a White Girl" featuring Yo Gotti, "Chicken Room" featuring Rocko, and the title track, and "Sometimes" featuring Future.^{[16][17][18][19][20][21]} Trap Back has been met with positive reviews so far, scoring a 7.8 from Pitchfork Media, a 7.5 from AllHipHop, and an "L" from XXL.^[22][23][24]

Legal issues[link]

2001[link]

In April 2001, Davis was arrested on cocaine charges and sentenced to 90 days in county jail.^[25]

2005[link]

On May 10, 2005, Davis was attacked by a group of men at a house in Decatur, Georgia. Davis and his companions shot at the group, killing one. The corpse of one of the attackers, Pookie Loc, was found later behind a nearby middle school. Davis turned himself in to police investigators on May 19, 2005, and was subsequently charged with murder. Davis claimed that the shots fired by him and his party were in self-defense.^[25] The DeKalb County district attorney's office dropped the murder charge in January 2006 due to insufficient evidence. The previous October, in an unrelated matter, Davis had pleaded no contest to a charge of aggravated assault for assaulting a nightclub promoter the previous June; at the time the murder charge was dropped, he was serving a six-month county jail sentence for this.^[26] Davis was released from jail in late January 2006.^[1]

2008[link]

In September 2008, Gucci Mane was arrested for a probation violation for completing only 25 out of 600 community service hours following his 2005 arrest for aggravated assault. He was sentenced to a year in the county jail but was released after six months.^[27] He was incarcerated in the Fulton County jail for probation violation^[28] and released on May 12, 2010.^[29]

2010[link]

On November 2, 2010, Gucci Mane was arrested for driving on the wrong side of the road, running a red light or stop sign, damage to government property, obstruction, no license, no proof of insurance and other traffic charges. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.^[30]

2011[link]

On January 4, 2011, A judge in the Superior Court of Georgia’s Fulton County ordered rapper Gucci Mane to a psychiatric hospital, according to court documents. The documents reveal that his lawyers filed a Special Plea of Mental Incompetency on Dec. 27 arguing that he is unable “to go forward and/or intelligently participate in the probation revocation hearing.” ^[31]

On September 13, 2011, Davis was given a six month county jail sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of battery, two counts of reckless conduct and one count of disorderly conduct.^[32]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 2007: Back to the Trap House
• 2009: The State vs. Radric Davis
• 2010: The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted

Collaboration albums[link]

• 2011: Ferrari Boyz (with Waka Flocka Flame)
• 2011: BAYTL (with V-Nasty)

EPs[link]

• 2009: Wasted: The Prequel

Compilation albums[link]

• 2008: Hood Classics

Independent albums[link]

• 2001: La Flare
• 2005: Trap House
• 2006: Hard to Kill
• 2007: Trap-A-Thon
• 2009: Murder Was the Case
• 2011: The Return of Mr. Zone 6

Mixtapes[link]

• 2006: Chicken Talk
• 2007: Bird Flu (Southern Slang)
• 2007: Ice Attack
• 2007: Ice Attack: Part 2
• 2007: No Pad, No Pencil
• 2008: EA Sportscenter
• 2008: Gucci Sosa
• 2008: Mr. Perfect
• 2008: The Movie
• 2009: Bird Flu: Part 2
• 2009: The Movie: Part 2 (The Sequel)
• 2009: Guccitendo
• 2009: Writing's On the Wall
• 2009: The Burrrprint: 3D (The Movie: Part 3)
• 2009: The Cold War: Part 1 (Guccimerica)
• 2009: The Cold War: Part 2 (Great Brrritain)
• 2009: The Cold War: Part 3 (Brrrussia)
• 2010: Mr. Zone 6
• 2010: Jewelry Selection
• 2010: Gucci Classics
• 2010: Ferrari Music
• 2010: Buy My Album
• 2010: Burrrprint (2) HD
• 2011: Gucci 2 Time
• 2011: Writing's On the Wall 2
• 2012: Trap Back
• 2012: I'm Up

Collaboration mixtapes[link]

• 2007: Guapaholics (with Shawty Lo)
• 2008: Definition Of A G (with Yo Gotti)
• 2011: Brick Squad Mafia (with 1017 Brick Squad)
• 2011: Free Bricks small>(with Future)

References[link]