Edward Lipinski's "El's Abode: Mythological Traditions Related to ...

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60 E. LIPINSKI
since it does not affect the conclusion that there existed deified mountains
in Canaanite mythology.
The problem is now how to explain the name 'il spn. It clearly
appears from OTA 3 (V AB), III, 26 and 63 233 that 'il spn cannot
be in RS. 24.245, line 2, a title of Ba'al, as Ch. Virolleaud has suggested
234. Judging from parallel expressions as 'il M 235 or 'ilht ktrt 2S«,
one might conclude that 'il is here an appellative rather than a proper
name 237. In consequence, 'il spn would be « the god of Sapan » or « the
god Sapan >>, But to answer the question with more accuracy, it is
necessary to know the meaning of the word spn. Its Hebrew use in the
sense of « north » is certainly a secondary one "238. Since Mount Sapan
was the northern border of Canaan, its name has been used to designate
the north, just as Negeb signified the south and yam,, « sea », the west.
The Hebrew vocalization sap on or sepon 239 seems to indicate that
is indeed a transcription of the Aramaic berdt and corresponds to the Hebrew
bero§ and the Akkadian burasu, all designating trees of the Juniperus family, Cf. I. Low,
Die Flora der Juden, III, Wien, 1924, p. 15 and 33 -36 ; M. ZOHAEY, art. beros, in Encyclopaedia
Biblica (in Hebrew), II, Jerusalem, 19.54, p. 339-341 ; The Assyrian Dictionary
of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2, B, Gliickstadt-Chicago, 1965,
p. 328; W. YON SODEN, Ak&adisches Handworterbuch, I, p. 1396. PBDAOTTTS DIOSCOEEBES,
De Materia Medico,, I, 76 BV, writes : fipdfiv • at Se fioparav, 'Pcapaioi ipfia. Eafiiva
(M. WEULMAWW, Pedanii Dioscuridis Anazarbei De Materia Medica, 2nd ed., vol. I,
Berlin, 1958, p. 75). The same correspondence is established by PLESY, Natural History,
XXIV, 61, § 102, who says that the « savin is called brctihy by the Greeks ». According to
him it grows in Elam : « Consequently they send to the Elymaei for the wood of the
bratus, a tree resembling a spreading cypress, with very white branches, and giving an
agreable scent when burnt » (Natural History, XII, 39, § 78. Translation of H. BACK-
HAM, Pliny : Natural History [The Loeb Classical Library], IY, London, 1945, p. 59).
But the tree also grew on the Amanus and Lebanon ranges ; cf. A. MALAMAT, Campaigns
to the Mediterranean by laJtdunlim and Other Early Mesopotamian Rulers, in Studies in
Honor of Benno Landsberger (Assyriological Studies, 16), Chicago, 1965, p. 365-373
(see p. 368-369) ; Sh.M. PAUL, Deutero-Isaiah and Cuneiform Royal Inscriptions, in
JAQS, 88/1, 1968 = Essays in Memory of E.A. Speiser (AQS, 53), New Haven, 1968,
p. 180-186 (see p. 183).
233 UT cnt in,26 and 63.
234 Ch. VIBOU/BATTD, in Ugaritica V, p. 558.
235 CTA 10 (iv AB), m,9 ; 12 (BH), i,41 ; n,6 and 23 ; UT 75, 1,41 ; n,6 and 23 ; 76, m,9.
2se CTA 24 (NK),11 and 40; UT 77,11 and 40.
237 As against U. GLDESTBUBG, The Conflict between El and Baal in Canaanite Religion,
p. 104-106.
238 p. GEELOT, art. tit., in Revue Biblique, 65, 1958, p. 37 (cf. p. 62, n. 2), seems to
consider « north » as the original meaning of sdpon and to regard its identification with
Gebel el-Aqrac as secondary and mythological.
238 The vocalisation sepon in Ba"al-sepon (Ex. 14,2 and 9 ; Numb. 33,7) is already
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