El (deity)
Northwest Semitic word for "god"
El is a Northwest Semitic word meaning 'god' or 'deity', or referring (as a proper name) to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities. A rarer form, 'ila, represents the predicate form in the Old Akkadian and Amorite languages. The word is derived from the Proto-Semitic *ʔil-.
Originally a Canaanite deity known as 'El, 'Al or 'Il was the supreme god of the ancient Canaanite religion. Some scholars like Ignace Gelb and Frank Moore Cross speculate he may have also been the supreme god of East Semitic speakers in the Early Dynastic Period of Mesopotamia (c. 2900 – c. 2350 BCE). Among the Hittites, El was known as Elkunirša (Hittite: 𒂖𒆪𒉌𒅕𒊭 Elkunīrša). Although El gained different appearances and meanings in different languages over time, it continues to exist as El-, -il or -el in compound proper noun phrases such as Elizabeth, Israel, Michael, and Bethel, most of which are theophoric given names.
El is often described as the father of the gods and the creator of humanity. El had many epithets, including "Bull El," "El the King," and "Father of Mankind," reflecting his authority, wisdom, and paternal role. One of many models proposes that over time, in Israelite religion, Yahweh absorbed many of El’s characteristics, gradually merging their identities through a process scholar Francesca Stavrakopoulou called "pantheon reduction".
The public source identifies “El (deity)” as northwest Semitic word for "god". This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around deity, Northwest and Semitic.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1316633. VIAF identifies the subject as 4511367. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “El (deity)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.