A Deity a Day: Day 29 - Anath

Anath (or Anat) is a Phoenician/Canaanite goddess of war and death. Sister of Ba'al, to whom she was fiercely loyal, she was a patron deity of Ramses II of Egypt, considered one of the greatest pharaohs. In Egypt she was associated with Neith/Nepthys, and came to be identified with Astarte. She is a swordswoman and an archer, a warrior of great prowess who revels in the blood of the battlefield. She represents necessary endings, sacrifices for the greater good, or outgrown habits that must be discarded to preserve the cycle of fertility. She is referred to as "the Virgin", but because of her sexual aspect, this is usually taken to mean that she is an independent goddess, not tied to a husband.



When her brother Ba'al (the storm god) is killed by Mot (sterility and death), she helps to resurrect him, then violently slays Mot and scatters his ground-up body over the fields. She likes to gird herself in ambergris and saffron.

She is also known to have gone into a battle frenzy and fought with her furniture.

One particular invocation reads: "Remove from the earth war, Set in the dust love; Pour peace amidst the earth, Tranquility amidst the fields" (from the Epic of Ba'al).

References:
A-Muse-ing Grace Gallery
http://thaliatook.com/AMGG/anat.html


Anat, Mother of Gods by Taylor Ray Ellison
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/anat.htm