Bel is the name under which the national god of the Babylonians is cursorily mentioned in Isaiah 46:1; Jeremiah 50:2; Jeremiah 51:44. This deity is also noticed in Letter of Jeremiah 6:40, and the apocryphal addition to the book of Daniel, where we read of meat and drink being daily offered to him, according to a usage occurring in classical idolatry. A particular account of the pyramidal temple of Bel, at Babylon, is given by Herodotus, who also states that the sacrifices of this god consisted of adult cattle, of their young, when sucking, and of incense.
The question whether the sun or the planet Jupiter was the power of nature adored under the name of Bel, is discussed under the article Baal.