had dealings, both positive and negative, with Sabeans and Chaldeans; practiced sacrifice on his own rather than employing priests; and enjoyed a lengthy life span. His name, attested from early times both in Egypt and in Mesopotamia, can mean “Where is the (divine) father?” and “Inveterate Foe/Hated One.” It belongs to a folk hero like Noah and Danel, with whom he is associated in Ezekiel 14:14 and 20. The Canaanite Dan’el rather than the later Daniel in the Bible is the probable hero behind Ezekiel’s