Side by side, from the sources
Saturn vs El
These two are identified with one another in the record, which is not the same as being the same figure. Aged, deposed or withdrawn fathers of the reigning gods.
Deity · Roman · c. 500 BCE
Saturn
also called Saturnus, Kronos (Greek)
Deposed father of Jupiter. His December festival inverted the social order for a week, and his planet later became the astrological signature of melancholy and malice.
- Alignment
- Disputed
- Rank
- God of the Golden Age
- First attested
- Theogony & Works and Days · c. 700 BCE
- Named there as
- Kronos
- Texts naming it
- 5
- Powers attributed
- 2
Deity · Canaanite · c. 1400 BCE
El
also called Ilu, El Elyon, ’Ēl, Il, ’Il, Ilāh, El (Deity), אֵל, ܐܠ
The aged high god who presides over the assembly at Ugarit — and whose name is one of the Hebrew Bible's own words for God.
- Alignment
- Disputed
- Rank
- Father of the Gods
- First attested
- The Baal Cycle (Ugaritic Tablets) · c. 1400-1200 BCE
- Named there as
- El
- Texts naming it
- 2
- Powers attributed
- 4
Where do they actually overlap?
Texts naming both
None. The two never appear in the same text in this corpus, which is worth knowing before accepting any confident claim that they are one figure.
Powers credited to both