(from West Semitic baʿalat, “lady”), often used as a synonym for the special goddess of a region; also, the chief deity of Byblos. Very little is known of Baalat, “the Lady 【of Byblos】,” but, because of the close ties between Byblos and Egypt, she was often represented with a typically Egyptian hairstyle, headdress, and costume, and by the 12th dynasty (1991–1786 BC) she was equated with the Egyptian goddess Hathor. To the Greeks, Baalat was a form of the goddess Astarte.