calls Hypsistos 'the highest' and who is therefore possibly ʿElyōn, is quite separate from his Elus/Cronus who is the supreme god Ēl. Sanchuniathon tells only: In their time is born a certain Elioun called "the Most High," and a female named Beruth, and these dwelt in the neighbourhood of Byblos. And from them is born Epigeius or Autochthon, whom they afterwards called Sky; so that from him they named the element above us Sky because of the excellence of its beauty. And he has a sister born of the aforesaid parents, who was called Earth, and from her, he says, because of her beauty, they called the earth by the same name. And their father, the Most High, died in an encounter with wild beasts, and was deified, and his children offered to him libations and sacrifices. According to Sanchuniathon it is from Sky and Earth that Ēl and various other deities are born, though ancient texts refer to Ēl as creator of heaven and earth. The Hittite theogony knows of a primal god named Alalu who fathered Sky (and possibly Earth) and who was overthrown by his son Sky, who was in turn overthrown by his son Kumarbi. A similar tradition seems to be at the basis of Sanchuniathon's account. As to Beruth who is here ʿElyōn's wife, a relationship with Hebrew bərīt 'covenant' or with the city of Beirut have both been suggested. See also Al-Ala Enlil Helios Hyperion The Hypsistarians, worshippers of the Most High God (Theos Hypsistos), were a distinct non-Jewish monotheistic sect which flourished in Asia Minor and Greece from about 200 BC to about AD 400. Illiyin Names of God in Judaism References Citations Bibliography Cross, Frank Moore (1973). Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. . "The treaty between KTK and Arpad" (1969). Trans. Frans Rosenthal in Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 3rd ed. with Supplement. Princeton: Princeton University Press. . The Divine Council: "Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God", by Michael S. Heiser (PDF.) Deities in the Hebrew Bible Hebrew words and phrases Names of God in Judaism Superlatives in religion West Semitic gods El (deity)