AIR
Since: Jan, 2011
Jan 5th 2012 at 1:03:56 PM
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I have moved all of this to the high octane nightmare fuel tab.
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LongLiveHumour
Since: Feb, 2010
May 2nd 2012 at 11:32:57 AM
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Moved back with the merging of the two pages, as per this thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13356185020A27903600
LongLiveHumour
Since: Feb, 2010
May 2nd 2012 at 11:29:30 AM
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The following doesn't belong under Nightmare Fuel, but it's very interesting and should be given a home somewhere.
- Baal or Ba'al is not really an individual deity. It is a title meaning "Master" or "Lord" and could apply to both deities and human officials. It was considered more respectful to use this than actually name your deity. The most famous of these "Lords" was Hadad, the Semitic storm god. "In religious texts, Ba'al/Hadad is the lord of the sky who governs the rain and thus the germination of plants with the power of his desire that they be fertile. He is the protector of life and growth to the agricultural people of the region. The absence of Ba'al causes dry spells, starvation, death, and chaos." The Baal which Jezebel and Ahab worshipped was specifically a god of Tyre. Probably Melqart/Ba'al Sur, the patron deity of that city. Archaelogists still argue whether this one was a sea god, a solar god or even an underworld deity. The worship rituals mentioned in the Bible for him seem rather inoffensive, burning incense and offering sacrifice. Similar to how their opponents worshipped their God.
- The Biblical references mostly mention "to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire l'Molech". There is not enough context for readers to understand whether Moloch/Molech was a deity or a particular fire. Popular images of child sacrifices aside, historians still speculate this could be a non-lethal purification ritual. Either way, this god/ritual probably had nothing to do with Jezebel, Ahab or even Israel. For some reason the references seem to connect Moloch to a location in the Kingdom of Judah, not far from Jerusalem. Specifically, the Valley of Hinnom/Gehinnom. Better known as Gehenna.
I just want to provide commentary here:
In Genesis 18, Abraham speaks with God, who says that, after some bargaining, he would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there were ten good people in those cities. A bit odd, considering many children and infants had to have lived in Sodom and Gomorrah and therefore would have been morally just enough to be spared God's wrath, but there's your answer.
Little hamsters, big adventures.