"3000-2500 BC. An unusually large steatite cylinder seal, depicting female, jumping man and man with spear, above stars and the crecent and cross symbol for Baal. Very large example 4.3 cm. long and 2.5 cm. diameter. ... Baal, also rendered Baʿal (Biblical Hebrew בַּעַל, pronounced [ˈbaʕal]), is a North-West Semitic title and honorific meaning ""master"" or ""lord"" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu. A Baalist or Baalite means a worshiper of Baal.""Baal"" may refer to any god and even to human officials. In some texts it is used for Hadad, a god of thunderstorms, fertility and agriculture, and the lord of Heaven. Baal is often represented by the symbol of the bull. Since only priests were allowed to utter his divine name, Hadad, Ba‛al was commonly used. Prior to the discovery of the Ugaritic texts it was sometimes thought that there were various and quite-separate gods called Baal. However, it is now generally accepted that there was one great Canaanite storm-and-fertility deity Baal-Hadad, and local manifestations of this one god. Despite the tendency in the Hebrew Bible to avoid the use of the word as a proper name, it is now quite clear that by pre-Israelite times the term had become the usual name of the weather-god of Syria-Palestine.Provenance: Ex- John Hibner, acquired in Turkey during military service 1960's"

Expected wear