The God El and His Attributes in Ugarit

Ugarit is one of the most important ancient civilisations discovered for the history and geography of Northern Syria. While the fact that the royal centre Ras Šamra was an important port city on the Mediterranean coast increased the geopolitical importance of Ugarit, its neighbourhood with great states such as Egypt in the south and Hittites in the north contributed to its cultural nourishment. Ugarit, which is located at a strategic point between the north, south, east and west civilisations in the Mediterranean port, was influenced and affected by its neighbours in many respects due to this location, and the cuneiform tablets show that the most prominent influence was economic and religious. The details of this religious structure in Ugarit, which had a polytheistic structure like its neighbours, are illuminated by the discovery of a large number of religious texts in cuneiform tablets unearthed during archaeological excavations in the region. These texts primarily provide detailed information about the pantheon of the Ugaritic gods, as well as information on different subjects such as the names of the Ugaritic gods, the attributes of the gods, the responsibilities attributed to them, their areas of duty, and the god family. In this study, El, one of the chief gods of the Ugarit pantheon, his figures unearthed in archaeological excavations, his place in the pantheon, his names and attributes mentioned in cuneiform tablets will be discussed. The name El, which influenced the later civilisations in the Canaanite region, will first be examined etymologically and then the adjectives used for him will be discussed in the light of cuneiform texts within the framework of ancient history methodology.