Yam
/jɑːm/noun
Yam is an Ugaritic deity associated with the sea, chaos, and threatening cosmic waters.
Did you know?In the Ugaritic Baal Cycle, Yam demands kingship and battles the storm-god Baal, reflecting an ancient mythic struggle between chaotic waters and ordered creation.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*yamm-
“Sea or large body of water”
2nd Millennium BCE
Ugaritic
ym
“The sea, and the divine personification of the sea”
14th–13th Century BCE
Ugaritic
Yam
“A god of the sea and cosmic waters in the Baal Cycle”
1st Millennium BCE
Biblical Hebrew
יָם (yām)
“Sea; the ordinary Hebrew word for a sea or ocean”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
يَمّ (yamm)
“Sea or deep waters”
Modern English
English
Yam
“A conventional English rendering of the Ugaritic sea deity’s name”