Category:Syrian mythology (pre-Islamic)

During the second millennium BC, Syria was occupied successively by Canaanites, Phoenicians, and Arameans as part of the general disruptions and exchanges associated with the Sea Peoples. The Phoenicians settled along the coast of Northern Canaan (Lebanon), which was already known for its towering cedars. Egyptians, Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians and Hittites variously occupied the strategic ground of Syria.

Religion in Palmyra, Syria: Palmyrans were originally of Aramean descent; they bore Aramaic names and worshiped a variety of deities from Mesopotamia (Marduk and Ruda), Syria (Hadad, Baal, Astarte), Arabia (Allāt) and Greece (Athena). Palmyrans were originally speakers of Aramaic language but later shifted from Aramaic into the Greek language. In the time of the Islamic conquests, Palmyra was inhabited by several Arab tribes, primarily Qada'ah and Kalb, among others.

Beelshamen (Baal Shamin), also known as Shamayim (or Sulayman) "lord of the heavens", was a supreme deity and the sky god of pre-Islamic Palmyra in ancient Syria. His attributes are the eagle and the lightning bolt. "Beel" is one form of Baal, a Semitic title for "Lord", equivalent to Bel in Mesopotamia. The earliest known occurrence of the title Baal Shamin is in a treaty of the 14th century BC between Suppiluliumas I king of the Hittites and Niqmadu II, king of Ugarit. One might take this to be another name for Baal Hadad and again when the name appears in a Phoenician inscription by King Yeḥimilk of Byblos. But other texts make a distinction between the two.

Beelshamen formed a triad with the lunar god Aglibol and the sun god Malakbel ("Messenger, or, Angel of the Lord").

Religion in Emesa, Syria: The royal family of Emesa, also known as the Emesani Dynasty or the Sempsigerami of Emesa sometimes known as The Sampsiceramids were a ruling Roman client dynasty of priest-kings in Emesa, Syria Province (modern Homs, Syria). They can viewed both as Arameans and Arabs.

Emesa was famous for the worship of the strong ancient pagan cult El-Gebal, also known as Elagabal. The city was renowned for El-Gebal’s place of worship the Temple of the Sun. El-Gebal was worshipped in the form of a conical black stone. El-Gebal was the Aramaic name for the Syrian Sun God and means God of the Mountain.