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Yam, Yamm, or Yammu was a Levantine sea and river god, popular in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages. ''Yam'', from the Canaanite word ''Yam'' ((ヘブライ語:ים)) meaning "Sea", also written Yaw, is one name of the Ugaritic god of Rivers and Sea. Also titled ''Judge Nahar'' ("Judge River"), he is also one of the 'ilhm (''Elohim'') or sons of El, the name given to the Levantine pantheon. Others dispute the existence of the alternative names, claiming it is a mistranslation of a damaged tablet. Despite linguistic overlap, theologically this god is not a part of the later subregional monotheistic theology, but rather is part of a broader and archaic Levantine polytheism. Yam is the deity of the primordial chaos and represents the power of the sea, untamed and raging; he is seen as ruling storms and the disasters they wreak. The gods cast out Yam from the heavenly mountain Sappan (modern Jebel Aqra; ''Sappan'' is cognate to ''Tsephon''). The seven-headed dragon Lotan is associated closely with him and he is often described as ''the serpent''. He is the Canaanite equivalent of the Sumerian Tiamat, the primordial mother goddess. Of all the gods, despite being the champion of El, Yam holds special hostility against Baal Hadad, son of Dagon. Yam is a deity of the sea and his palace is in the abyss associated with the depths, or Biblical tehwom, of the oceans. (This is not to be confused with the abode of Mot, the ruler of the netherworlds.) In Ugaritic texts, Yam's special enemy Hadad is also known as the "king of heaven" and the "first born son" of El, whom ancient Greeks identified with their god Cronus, just as Baal was identified with Zeus, Yam with Poseidon and Mot with Hades. Yam wished to become the Lord god in his place. In turns the two beings kill each other, yet Hadad is resurrected and Yam also returns. Some authors have suggested that these tales reflect the experience of seasonal cycles in the Levant. ==Speculative similarities in other traditions== "Yam, Judge Nahar" also has similarities with Mesopotamian Tiamat and Abzu and the battle between Yam and Baal (the Storm God) resembles the battle in Hurrian and Hittite mythology between the sky God Teshub (or Tarhunt) with the serpent Illuyanka. In this respect the battle with Baal resembles the battle between Tiamat and Enlil and Babylonian Marduk. In the case of Yam, however, there is no indication that he was slain, as it appears from the texts that he was put to sleep through the intervention of Baal's "sister" and wife, Anath.〔Pritchard.〕 Moreover, a comparison with the evil Jörmungandr (Norse world-serpent and deity of the sea) is accurate, given his description. Like Yam and Hadad, he and Thor (son of Odin) slay each other at the end of the world (Ragnarök or Twilight of the Gods). There are also many similarities with the Egyptian chaos serpent, Apep and his animosity with the sun god Ra. They are described as eternally slaying each other. In addition, the serpent-Titan Typhon battled the god Zeus over Olympus and was cast into the pits of the Earth. Yam shares many characteristics with Greco-Roman Ophion, the serpentine Titan of the sea whom Cronus cast out of the heavenly Mt. Olympus. The story is also analogus to the war between the serpent Vritra and the god Indra, son of the 'Sky Father' Dyaus Pita. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Yam (god)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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