B

Baal. (Lord). Among the Phoenicians the chief male divinity who appears to have symbolized
the Sun, more particularly the Sun in Taurus. Baal was worshipped in agricultural festivals as the
god of fertility of soil and increase of flocks. In successive periods of the history of the ancient
Semitic races, the name was assigned to innumerable local deities. The Baal of Tyre was
introduced among the Israelite settlers by Ahab. Hannibal was so named because he was
supposed to be in favor with Baal.

Babel, Tower of. A temple dedicated to the study of the planets, which were supposed to
divulge the secrets of life and guide human destiny.

Babylon. An ancient Semitic city in the Euphrates valley, which after 2250 B.C., as the capital
of Babylonia, became a center of world commerce and of the arts and sciences, its life marked
by luxury and magnificence. The city in which they built the Tower of Babel, its location
coincides approximately with that of the modern city of Baghdad - now the center of a vast
agricultural community. The Babylonians attached great importance to the motions of the
planets, accurately fixed their orbits and worked out tables of the phases of the Moon, whereby
eclipses could be correctly predicted. Their great astrological work, "The Illumination of Bel,"
was compiled within the period of 2100-1900 B.C.. From fragments of the tablets of another
astrological work which has been preserved, it is found that their calendar began with March 21;
and its twelve divisions, and their names, give evidence of astrological significance. Their story
of the deluge closely parallels that of the Bible, and the location of their Mount Nisir (Mount of
Refuge) is seemingly that of Mt. Ararat, where the ark stranded. Their Hanging Gardens were
one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. From what remains of their literature, it
appears that with the rise of astrology there arose a wave of fatalism which, however, later gave
way to a doctrine of self-determination - the belief that the stars impel but do not compel.
Babylon is generally conceded to have been the cradle of astrology. It was overthrown in 539 A.
D., by Xerxes, the Persian.

Babylonian. An astrologer: so-called because the Babylonians were famed for their knowledge
of Astrology.