Belus
Earth Culture of Origin
Babylonian - Chaldaean
Alternate Names / Spellings
Baal (Belus is the Latin name of the Semitic god). Belus means 'lord'. Bel-Marduk. Bel-Merodach. See also Ba'al.
Presides Over
Sun god
Earth Mythological References
Son of Poseidon by Libya, who was a granddaughter of Zeus and Io. The king of Sidon and father of Dido (Virgil I, 621, 729) and Pygmalion.
FRAGMENTS OF CHALDÆAN HISTORY, BEROSSUS: FROM ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR:
- BEROSSUS, in the first book of his history of Babylonia, informs us that he lived in the age of Alexander the son of Philip. And he mentions that there were written accounts, preserved at Babylon with the greatest care, comprehending a period of above fifteen myriads of years: and that these writings contained histories of the heaven and of the sea; of the birth of mankind; and of the kings, and of the memorable actions which they had achieved.
- At Babylon there was (in these times) a great resort of people of various nations, who inhabited Chaldæa, and lived in a lawless manner like the beasts of the field. In the first year there appeared, from that part of the Erythræan sea which borders upon Babylonia, an animal destitute of reason, by name Oannes, whose whole body (according to the account of Apollodorus) was that of a fish; that under the fish's head he had another head, with feet also below, similar to those of a man, subjoined to the fish's tail. His voice too, and language, was articulate and human; and a representation of him is preserved even to this day.
- This Being was accustomed to pass the day among men; but took no food at that season; and he gave them an insight into letters and sciences, and arts of every kind. He taught them to construct cities, to found temples, to compile laws, and explained to them the principles of geometrical knowledge. He made them distinguish the seeds of the earth, and shewed them how to collect the fruits; in short, he instructed them in every thing which could tend to soften manners and humanize their lives.
- From that time, nothing material has been added by way of improvement to his instructions. And when the sun had set, this Being Oannes, retired again into the sea, and passed the night in the deep; for he was amphibious. After this there appeared other animals like Oannes, of which Berossus proposes to give an account when he comes to the history of the kings. Moreover Oannes wrote concerning the generation of mankind; and of their civil polity; and the following is the purport of what he said:
- There was a time in which there existed nothing but darkness and an abyss of waters, wherein resided most hideous beings, which were produced of a two-fold principle. There appeared men, some of whom were furnished with two wings, others with four, and with two faces. They had one body but two heads: the one that of a man, the other of a woman: and likewise in their several organs both male and female.
- Other human figures were to be seen with the legs and horns of goats: some had horses' feet: while others united the hind quarters of a horse with the body of a man, resembling in shape the hippocentaurs. Bulls likewise were bred there with the heads of men; and dogs with fourfold bodies, terminated in their extremities with the tails of fishes: horses also with the heads of dogs: men too and other animals, with the heads and bodies of horses and the tails of fishes. In short, there were creatures in which were combined the limbs of every species of animals.
- In addition to these, fishes, reptiles, serpents, with other monstrous animals, which assumed each other's shape and countenance. Of all which were preserved delineations in the temple of Belus at Babylon.
- The person, who presided over them, was a woman named Omoroca; which in the Chaldæan language is Thalatth; in Greek Thalassa, the sea; but which might equally be interpreted the Moon. All things being in this situation, Belus came, and cut the woman asunder: and of one half of her he formed the earth, and of the other half the heavens; and at the same time destroyed the animals within her.
- All this (he says) was an allegorical description of nature. For, the whole universe consisting of moisture, and animals being continually generated therein, the deity above-mentioned took off his own head: upon which the other gods mixed the blood, as it gushed out, with the earth; and from thence were formed men. On this account it is that they are rational, and partake of divine knowledge.
- This Belus, by whom they signify Jupiter, divided the darkness, and separated the Heavens from the Earth, and reduced universe to order. But the animals, not being able to bear the prevalence of light, died. Belus upon this, seeing a vast space unoccupied, though by nature fruitful, commanded one of the gods to take off his head, and to mix the blood with the earth; and from thence to form other men and animals, which should be capable of bearing the air. Belus formed also the stars, and the sun, and the moon, and the five planets.
- (Such, according to Polyhistor Alexander, is the account which Berossus gives in his first book.)
In Babylonian myths, Tiamat [linked to Omoroca] is a huge, bloated female dragon that personifies the saltwater ocean, the water of Chaos. She is also the primordial mother of all that exists, including the gods themselves. Her consort is Apsu, the personification of the freshwater abyss that lies beneath the Earth. From their union, saltwater with freshwater, the first pair of gods were born. They are Lachmu and Lachamu, parents of Ansar and Kisar, grandparents of Anu and Ea.
In the creation epic Enuma elish, written around 2000 BCE, their descendants started to irritate Tiamat and Apsu so they decided to kill their offspring. Ea discovered their plans and he managed to kill Apsu while the latter was asleep. Tiamat flew into a rage when she learned about Apsu's death and wanted to avenge her husband. She created an army of monstrous creatures, which was to be led by her new consort Kingu, who is also her son. Eventually, Tiamat was defeated by the young god Marduk, who was born in the deep freshwater sea.
Marduk cleaved her body in half, and from the upper half he created the sky and from the lower half he made the earth. From her water came forth the clouds and her tears became the source of the Tigris and the Euphratus. Kingu also perished, and from his blood Marduk created the first humans.
Stargate References
In a history written by Berossus during the time of Alexander the Great, Belus conquered Babylonia. Omoroca, an Oannes woman who came to Earth to help humanity overthrow Goa’uld rule, incited the people against him. We know Belus only through brief mention by Daniel Jackson during an interrogation by Nem, an Oannes male who was Omoroca’s mate.
NEM
Belus.
DANIEL
Belus. Belus...Belus...Something...Yes. Yes...um...Belus something. Yes. In the writing of Berossus, a contemporary of Alexander the Great. He studied some very old, ancient Babylonian text. Pre-flood. Tell me more.
NEM
Omoroca feared Belus.
After convincing Nem to use his memory technology on him, Daniel is able to recall:
- “And in that place there was Omoroca, a woman who came forth from the heavenly egg, who walked among men by day, but at night, she would retreat to the Great Sea to sleep, one of the beings called Oannes. The god Belus came down unto Babylon, unto the place of Omoroca, and he cut the woman asunder.”
Belus was a Goa'uld leading a people who believed their god found pleasure, as they did, in every agony inflicted on their foes. Omoroca fought him in order to free mankind from enslavement by the Goa'uld. Though Belus killed her, she was ultimately successful. Humans flourished into a civilisation which rivalled that of the Goa'uld. Daniel acknowledged that they owe Omoroca a great debt (1.13 "Fire And Water").
There is a strong possible link from Belus to the Goa'uld Marduk, because of the Babylonian God Bel-Marduk. This particularly brutal Goa'uld was imprisoned and punished by his own priests. Marduk was discovered within a ziggurat, buried alive in his sarcophagus with an alien flesh eating creature, first by a covert Russian Stargate team, and then by SG-1, accompanied by a second Russian rescue team. (5.08 "The Tomb") This link is far more probable than that to Baal.
Though Stargate has never clearly stated a link between Marduk and Belus, the Oannes woman Omoroca was identified with the goddess Tiamat. Marduk possessed a fabled artefact of great power, sought by the Russians, called the Eye of Tiamat. It is a reasonable conclusion that Belus was Marduk and that he obtained the Eye after defeating Omoroca, also known as Tiamat.
Sadly, the writers of "The Tomb" did not refer back to Omoroca, Nem and the events of "Fire and Water".
Episodes
Related Characters
Related Articles
Further Reading
- http://www.pantheon.org/articles/b/belus.html
- http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/af/af02.htm
- http://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/tiamat.html
Actor
--Adapted for the wiki by: DeeKayP 07:22, 19 Jul 2004 (PDT)