Dagon was a major northwest Semitic god, reportedly of grain and agriculture. The Ancient Near East refers to early Civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq See also Names of the Levant The Levant (lə'vænt is a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia, roughly bounded on the north by the Ancient Semitic religion spans the Polytheistic religions of the Semitic speaking peoples of the Ancient Near East. Adonis (Άδωνης also Άδωνις is a figure of West Semitic origin where he is a central cult figure in various Mystery religions, who enters Anat, also ‘Anat is a major northwest Semitic goddess ‘Anat in Ugarit In the Ugaritic Ba‘al / Hadad cycle ‘Anat Asherah (from Hebrew אשרה generally taken as identical with the Ugaritic goddess Athirat (more accurately transcribed as ʼAṯirat) was In the Hebrew Bible, Ashima is one of several deities protecting the individual cities of Samaria who are mentioned specifically by name in 2 Kings 1730 Astarte (from Greek Ἀστάρτη ( Astártē) is the name of a Goddess as known from Northwestern Semitic regions cognate in name origin For the metal band see Atargatis (band. Atargatis, in Aramaic ‘Atar‘atah, was a Syrian deity "the great Ba'al (pronounced; Hebrew בעל (ordinarily spelled Baal in English is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" In his euphemistic account of the Phoenician deities Sanchuniathon says In their time is born a certain Elioun called "the Most High" and a female Chemosh (ˈkimɑʃ (from Hebrew כמש, pronounced /χeˈmoʃ/ was the God of the Moabites (Num For the metal band see Atargatis (band. Atargatis, in Aramaic ‘Atar‘atah, was a Syrian deity "the great Eli (Hebrew אל is the Northwest Semitic word and name either translated into English as "god" or "God" or left untranslated as Eli, depending The name or epithet or word ‘Elyōn ( Masoretic pronunciation of Hebrew עליון) is traditionally rendered in Samaritan Hebrew as illiyyon Eshmun (or Eshmoun, less accurately Esmun or Esmoun) was a Phoenician god of healing and the tutelary god of Sidon. Haddad בעל הדד (in Ugaritic Haddu) was a very important northwest Semitic storm and rain god, cognate in name and origin with the Kothar-wa-Khasis (כושר וחסיס is a Canaanite god whose name means "Skillful-and-Wise" or "Adroit-and-Perceptive" or "Deft-and-Clever" Melqart, properly Phoenician Milk-Qart "King of the City" less accurately Melkart, Melkarth In Ugaritic Mot 'Death' (spelled mt) is personified as a god of death Moloch, Molech, Molekh, or Molek, representing Hebrew מלך mlk, (translated directly into king is either the name of a In Egyptian mythology and Canaanite religion, Qetesh (also Qadesh Quetesh Kadesh Qatesh Qadeshet Qudshu Qodesh) referred to a Goddess or Goddesses Resheph or Reshef (Canaanite/Hebrew sem-Latn ršp he רשף was a Canaanite deity of plague and war. Shalim is the king of dusk in the pantheon of Ugarit. He is the twin brother and counterpart of Shahar the king of dawn Yarikh, in Canaanite mythology Yarkhibol in Phoenician, also written as Jerah, Jarah, or Jorah (Hebrew spelling ירח Yamm, from the Canaanite word Yam, meaning "Sea" is one name of the Ugaritic god of Rivers and Sea See also Yahweh Tetragrammaton (from the Greek, meaning ' of four letters' (tetra "four" + gramma (gen Dingir is the Sumerian for " Deity " It is written as an Ideogram in the Cuneiform script (Borger 2003 nr This article is about the Sumerian god Adad also known as Ishkur. Amurru (or Martu) are names given in Akkadian and Sumerian texts to the god of the Amorite /Amurru people often forming part of personal In Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians Anu (also An; (from Sumerian *An = sky heaven was a sky-god In Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians Anu (also An; (from Sumerian *An = sky heaven was a sky-god In Akkadian mythology, Anshar (also spelled Anshur) which means "sky pivot" or "sky axle" is a Sky God. Aššur (also Ashur, Assur; written A-šur, also Aš-šùr, in Neo-Assyrian often shortened to Aš) was the head of the Assyrian Enki ( Sumerian: dENKI(G 𒂗𒆠 was a Deity in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology Enlil ( EN = Lord + LIL = Loft "Lord of the Open" or "Lord of the Wind" was the name of a chief deity listed and written about in ancient Sumerian In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal ( D EREŠ. KI. GAL, lit Inanna ( D INANNA B153ellstpng|100x20px|INANNA]]) is the Sumerian goddess of sexual love fertility and warfare Ishtar ( D IŠTAR 𒀭𒌋𒁯 is the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to Kingu, also spelled Qingu meaning unskilled laborer was a god in Babylonian mythology and — after the murder of his father — the consort of the goddess Tiamat In the Akkadian epic Enuma Elish, Kishar is the daughter of Lahmu and Lahamu, the first children of Tiamat and Apsu Laḫmu (also romanized Lakhmu) is a deity from Akkadian mythology, first-born son of Apsu and Tiamat. Lahamu was the first-born daughter of Tiamat and Apsu in Akkadian mythology. Marduk ( Sumerian spelling in Akkadian: AMARUTU 𒀫 𒌓 "solar calf" perhaps from MERI Mummu Vizier of primeval gods Apsu, the fresh water and Tiamat, the salt water Nabu is the Babylonian god of Wisdom and Writing, worshipped by Babylonians as the son of Marduk and his consort Sarpanitum, In Sumerian mythology, Nammu (more properly Namma) is the Sumerian creation goddess Sin (Akkadian Sîn, Suen; Sumerian Nanna) is a Sumerian God in Mesopotamian mythology. Sin (Akkadian Sîn, Suen; Sumerian Nanna) is a Sumerian God in Mesopotamian mythology. The name Nergal (or Nirgal, Nirgali) refers to a Deity in Babylonia with the main seat Ningishzida ( sum dnin-ǧiš-zi-da) is a Mesopotamian deity of the Underworld. In Sumerian mythology, Ninhursag (NINURSAG was the earth and mother- Goddess, one of the seven great deities of Sumer. In Sumerian mythology, Ninlil (𒀭𒊩𒌆𒆤 D NIN.LÍL"lady of the open field" or "Lady of the Air" first called In Babylonian mythology, Tiamat is the sea personified as a Goddess, and a monstrous embodiment of Primordial chaos. This article refers to the Sumerian Deity. For other uses see Utu (disambiguation. For the Canaanite sun godess see Shemesh Shamash was the common Akkadian name of the Sun-god and god of justice in Babylonia Ancient Egyptian religion was Polytheistic and often Zoomorphic. Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu (also spelled Amon, Amoun, Amen, and rarely Imen, Greek Ἄμμων Ra (pronounced Rah and sometimes as Rê, is an Ancient Egyptian sun god. In Egyptian mythology, Bakha (also spelt Bakh, Buchis, and Bukhis) was the Manifestation of the a deification of Ka (power/life-force Osiris ( Greek language, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Aser, Ausar, Ausir In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (also spelt Peteh) was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead Cosmogony, which was more literally In Linguistics and Ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical " Shem " Hebrew שם translated as "name" Arabic: ساميّ He was worshipped by the early Amorites and by the inhabitants of the cities of Ebla and Ugarit (which was an ancient city near the Mediterranean containing a large variety of ancient writings and pagan shrines). Amorite ( Sumerian MARTU, Akkadian Tidnum or Amurrūm, Egyptian Amar, Hebrew ’emōrî Ebla ( Arabic: عبيل، إيبلا modern Tell Mardikh, Syria) was an ancient city about 55 km southwest of Aleppo. Ugarit ( Ugaritic: ʼugrt; Hebrew:; Arabic:) (modern Ras Shamra رأس شمرة ("top/head/cape of the wild Fennel He was also a major member, or perhaps head, of the pantheon of the Biblical Philistines. A pantheon (from Greek Πάνθειον - pantheion, literally "a temple of all gods " neut The Philistines ( Hebrew פלשתים plishtim) (see "other uses" below were a people who inhabited the southern coast of Canaan, This position as major god of the enemies of the Ancient Israelites led to Dagon's demonization in the Hebrew Bible. See also History of ancient Israel and Judah According to the Bible, the Israelites were the dominant group living in the Land of Israel. The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic

His name appears in Hebrew as דגון (in modern transcription Dagon, Tiberian Hebrew Dāḡôn), in Ugaritic as dgn (probably vocalized as Dagnu), and in Akkadian as Dagana, Daguna usually rendered in English translations as Dagan. Tiberian Hebrew is an extinct (yet very well documented Oral tradition of pronunciation for ancient Hebrew, especially the Hebrew of the Tanakh, that was The Ugaritic language, discovered by French archaeologists in 1928 is known only in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit, near the modern

Etymology

In Ugaritic, the root dgn also means grain: in Hebrew dāgān, Samaritan dīgan, is an archaic word for grain, perhaps related to the Middle Hebrew and Jewish Aramaic word dgnʾ 'be cut open' or to Arabic dagn 'rain-(cloud). Aramaic is a Semitic language with Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The Phoenician author Sanchuniathon also says Dagon means siton, that being the Greek word for grain. Sanchuniathon is the purported Phoenician author of three lost works originally in the Phoenician language, surviving only in partial paraphrase and summary of a Sanchuniathon further explains: "And Dagon, after he discovered grain and the plough, was called Zeus Arotrios. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology " The word arotrios means "ploughman", "pertaining to agriculture".

The theory relating the name to Hebrew dāg/dâg, fish, based solely upon a reading of 1 Samuel 5:2–7 is discussed in Fish-god tradition below.

Non-Biblical sources

The god Dagon first appears in extant records about 2500 BC in the Mari texts and in personal Amorite names in which the gods Ilu (Ēl), Dagan, and Adad are especially common. The 25th century BC is a Century which lasted from the year 2500 BC to 2401 BC Mari (modern Tell Hariri, Syria) was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Amorite ( Sumerian MARTU, Akkadian Tidnum or Amurrūm, Egyptian Amar, Hebrew ’emōrî Eli (Hebrew אל is the Northwest Semitic word and name either translated into English as "god" or "God" or left untranslated as Eli, depending This article is about the Sumerian god Adad also known as Ishkur.

At Ebla (Tell Mardikh), from at least 2300 BC, Dagan was the head of the city pantheon comprising some 200 deities and bore the titles BE-DINGIR-DINGIR, "Lord of the gods" and Bekalam, "Lord of the land". Ebla ( Arabic: عبيل، إيبلا modern Tell Mardikh, Syria) was an ancient city about 55 km southwest of Aleppo. The 23rd century BC is a Century which lasted from the year 2300 BC to 2201 BC His consort was known only as Belatu, "Lady". Both were worshipped in a large temple complex called E-Mul, "House of the Star". One entire quarter of Ebla and one of its gates were named after Dagan. Dagan is called ti-lu ma-tim, "dew of the land" and Be-ka-na-na, possibly "Lord of Canaan". Canaanites redirects here For the 1940s social and political movement in Israel, see Canaanites (movement. He was called lord of many cities: of Tuttul, Irim, Ma-Ne, Zarad, Uguash, Siwad, and Sipishu.

An interesting early reference to Dagan occurs in a letter to King Zimri-Lim of Mari, 18th century BC, written by Itur-Asduu an official in the court of Mari and governor of Nahur (the Biblical city of Nahor) (ANET, p. The 20th century BC is a Century which lasted from the year 2000 BC to 1901 BC  623). It relates a dream of a "man from Shaka" in which Dagan appeared. In the dream, Dagan blamed Zimri-Lim's failure to subdue the King of the Yaminites upon Zimri-Lim's failure to bring a report of his deeds to Dagan in Terqa. Terqa is the name of an ancient city discovered at the site of Tell Ashara on the banks of the middle Euphrates in Syria, approximately 80 km Dagan promises that when Zimri-Lim has done so: "I will have the kings of the Yaminites [coo]ked on a fisherman's spit, and I will lay them before you. "

In Ugarit around 1300 BC, Dagon had a large temple and was listed third in the pantheon following a father-god and Ēl, and preceding Baīl Ṣapān (that is the god Haddu or Hadad/Adad). Ugarit ( Ugaritic: ʼugrt; Hebrew:; Arabic:) (modern Ras Shamra رأس شمرة ("top/head/cape of the wild Fennel Ba'al (pronounced; Hebrew בעל (ordinarily spelled Baal in English is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" Haddad בעל הדד (in Ugaritic Haddu) was a very important northwest Semitic storm and rain god, cognate in name and origin with the Joseph Fontenrose first demonstrated that, whatever their deep origins, at Ugarit Dagon was identified with El,^[1] explaining why Dagan, who had an important temple at Ugarit is so neglected in the Ras Shamra mythological texts, where Dagon is mentioned solely in passing as the father of the god Hadad, but Anat, El's daughter, is Baal's sister, and why no temple of El has appeared at Ugarit. Joseph Eddy Fontenrose (1903-1986 was an American classical scholar Ugarit ( Ugaritic: ʼugrt; Hebrew:; Arabic:) (modern Ras Shamra رأس شمرة ("top/head/cape of the wild Fennel Haddad בעל הדד (in Ugaritic Haddu) was a very important northwest Semitic storm and rain god, cognate in name and origin with the Anat, also ‘Anat is a major northwest Semitic goddess ‘Anat in Ugarit In the Ugaritic Ba‘al / Hadad cycle ‘Anat

There are differences between the Ugaritic pantheon and that of Phoenicia centuries later: according to the third-hand Greek and Christian reports of Sanchuniathon, the Phoenician mythographer would have Dagon the brother of Ēl/Cronus and like him son of Sky/Uranus and Earth, but not truly Hadad's father. Cronus or Kronos, ( Ancient Greek Κρόνος Krónos) was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, divine descendants Uranus (ˈjʊərənəs jʊˈreɪnəs is the Latinized form of Ouranos () the Greek word for Sky. Hadad^[2] was begotten by "Sky" on a concubine before Sky was castrated by his son Ēl, whereupon the pregnant concubine was given to Dagon. Accordingly, Dagon in this version is Hadad's half-brother and stepfather. The Byzantine Etymologicon Magnum says that Dagon was Cronus in Phoenicia. The Etymologicum Magnum ( Ancient Greek: Μέγα Ετυμολογικόν or Etymologicum genuinum was a grammatical encyclopedia edited at Constantinople ^[3] Otherwise, with the disappearance of Phoenician literary texts, Dagon has practically no surviving mythology.

Dagan is mentioned occasionally in early Sumerian texts but becomes prominent only in later Akkadian inscriptions as a powerful and warlike protector, sometimes equated with Enlil. Sumerian ( " native tongue " was the language of ancient Sumer, spoken in Southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC Dagan's wife was in some sources the goddess Shala (also named as wife of Adad and sometimes identified with Ninlil). Shala is a Babylonian and Akkadian war goddess the consort of the storm-god Adad. In other texts, his wife is Ishara. Ishara () is the Hittite word for " Treaty, binding promise" also personified as a Goddess of the Oath. In the preface to his famous law code, King Hammurabi calls himself "the subduer of the settlements along the Euphrates with the help of Dagan, his creator". Hammurabi ( Akkadian from Amorite ˤAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer" from ˤAmmu, "paternal kinsman" and Rāpi The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת An inscription about an expedition of Naram-Sin to the Cedar Mountain relates (ANET, p.  268): "Naram-Sin slew Arman and Ibla with the 'weapon' of the god Dagan who aggrandizes his kingdom. " The stele of Ashurnasirpal II (ANET, p. A stele (from Greek:, stēlē, ˈstiːli plural stelae,, stēlai, ˈstiːlaɪ also found Latinised singular stela Ashur-nasir-pal II ( Transliteration: Aššur-nâṣir-apli, meaning " Ashur is guardian of the heir" was king of Assyria from 884 BC-859  558) refers to Ashurnasirpal as the favorite of Anu and of Dagan. In Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians Anu (also An; (from Sumerian *An = sky heaven was a sky-god In an Assyrian poem, Dagan appears beside Nergal and Misharu as a judge of the dead. The name Nergal (or Nirgal, Nirgali) refers to a Deity in Babylonia with the main seat A late Babylonian text makes him the underworld prison warder of the seven children of the god Emmesharra. In the study of Mythology and Religion, the underworld (gr κάτω κόσμος) is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term Afterlife

The Phoenician inscription on the sarcophagus of King Eshmunʿazar of Sidon (5th century BC) relates (ANET, p. Sidon,or Saïda, ( Arabic ar صيدا; Phoenician phoenician yodh  662): "Furthermore, the Lord of Kings gave us Dor and Joppa, the mighty lands of Dagon, which are in the Plain of Sharon, in accordance with the important deeds which I did. Jaffa يَافَا;(יָפוֹ Yafo; also Japho, Joppa) is an ancient Port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world The Sharon Plain (שרון is the northern half of the coastal plain of Israel. "

Dagan was sometimes used in royal names. Two kings of the Dynasty of Isin were Iddin-Dagan (c. Isin (modern Ishan al-Bahriyat was a city of lower Mesopotamia, which flourished during the 20th century BC. 1974–1954 BC) and Ishme-Dagan (c. 1953–1935 BC). The latter name was later used by two Assyrian kings: Ishme-Dagan I (c. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture 1782–1742 BC) and Ishme-Dagan II (c. 1610–1594 BC).

In Biblical texts and commentaries

In the Tanakh, Dagon is particularly the god of the Philistines with temples at Beth-dagon in the tribe of Asher (Joshua 19. See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is The Philistines ( Hebrew פלשתים plishtim) (see "other uses" below were a people who inhabited the southern coast of Canaan, The Tribe of Asher ( was one of the Tribes of Israel. At its height Asher dwelled in western Galilee, a region with comparatively low temperature and much rainfall The Book of Joshua ( Hebrew: Sefer Y'hoshua ספר יהושע is the sixth book in both the Hebrew Tanakh and the Old Testament of the Christian 27), in Gaza (Judges 16. Gaza (غزة, עַזָּה ʕazzā is the largest city in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories. Book of Judges ( Hebrew: Sefer Shoftim ספר שופטים is a book of the Bible originally written in Hebrew. 23, which tells soon after how the temple is destroyed by Samson as his last act). Samson, Shimshon ( Hebrew: שמשון, Standard Šimšon Tiberian Šimšôn; meaning Another temple, in Ashdod was mentioned in 1 Samuel 5. Ashdod (אַשְׁדּוֹד اشدود إسدود Isdud) located in the South District of Israel, on the Mediterranean Sea coast The Books of Samuel ( Hebrew: Sefer Sh'muel ספר שמואל are part of the Tanakh (part of Judaism 's Hebrew Bible) and also of 2–7 and again as late as 1 Maccabees 10. 1 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book written by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom probably about 100 BC. 83;11. 4. King Saul's head was displayed in a temple of Dagon in 1 Chronicles 10:8-10. Saul (שאול המלך (or Sha'ul) ( Arabic: طالوت,Tālūt ( (reigned 1047 - 1007 BCE is identified in the Books of Samuel, 1 Chronicles The Books of Chronicles ( Hebrew Divrei Hayyamim, דברי הימים Greek Paraleipomêna) are part of the Hebrew Bible (Jewish There was also a second place known as Beth-Dagon in Judah (Joshua 15. The Tribe of Judah ( was one of the Tribes of Israel. At its height it was the leading tribe of the Kingdom of Judah, and occupied most of the territory of the kingdom 41). Josephus (Antiquities 12. Josephus (AD 37 – c 100 also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph son of Matthias and after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus 8. 1; War 1. 2. 3) mentions a place named Dagon above Jericho. Jericho ( Arabic, ʼArīḥā; Hebrew, Standard Yəriḥo Tiberian Yərîḫô Jerome mentions Caferdago between Diospolis and Jamnia. Jerome (c 347 – September 30, 420) ( Latin: Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος Lod (לוֹד اَلْلُدّْ al-Ludd; Greco-Latin Lydda) is a mixed Arab - Jewish city about 15 km southeast of Tel Aviv in There is also a modern Beit Dejan south-east of Nablus. Nablus ( sometimes Nābulus; Arabic:; næːblʊs is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem Some of these toponyms may have to do with grain rather than the god.

The account in 1 Samuel 5. 2–7 relates how the ark of Yahweh was captured by the Philistines and taken to Dagon's temple in Ashdod. The Ark of the Covenant (אָרוֹן הָבְרִית ʔārōn hāb’rīθ, Modern aron habrit) is described in the Bible as a sacred container wherein For information about Yahweh see God in Abrahamic religions, which provides useful links The following morning they found the image of Dagon lying prostrate before the ark. They set the image upright, but again on the morning of the following day they found it prostrate before the ark, but this time with head and hands severed, lying on the miptān translated as "threshold" or "podium". The account continues with the puzzling words raq dāgôn nišʾar ʿālāyw, which means literally "only Dagon was left to him. " (The Septuagint, Peshitta, and Targums render "Dagon" here as "trunk of Dagon" or "body of Dagon", presumably referring to the lower part of his image. The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the The name 'Peshitta' The name 'Peshitta' is derived from the Syriac mappaqtâ pšîṭtâ (ܡܦܩܬܐ ܦܫܝܛܬܐ literally meaning 'simple version' A targum ( Hebrew: תרגום plural targumim, lit "translation interpretation" is an Aramaic Translation of the Hebrew ) Thereafter we are told that neither the priests or anyone ever steps on the miptān of Dagon in Ashdod "unto this day". This story is depicted on the frescoes of the Dura-Europos synagogue as the opposite to a depiction of the High Priest Aaron and the Temple of Solomon. The Dura-Europos synagogue is unique among the many ancient synagogues that have emerged from archaeological digs in that it was preserved virtually intact This article is about Aaron the Levite in the Hebrew Bible, the Qu'ran, and other sources Solomon's Temple (בית המקדש transliterated Beit HaMikdash) also known as the First Temple, was according to

Marnas

The vita of Porphyry of Gaza, mentions the great god of Gaza, known as Marnas (Aramaic Marnā the "Lord"), who was regarded as the god of rain and grain and invoked against famine. Saint Porphyry or Saint Porphyrius ( Greek: Πορφύριος Porphyrios; Latin: Porphyrius; Slavonic: Порфирий Aramaic is a Semitic language with Marna of Gaza appears on coinage of the time of Hadrian. Publius Aelius Hadrianus (January 24 76 &ndash July 10 138 as emperor Imperator Caesar Divi Traiani filius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, and Divus Hadrianus after ^[4] He was identified at Gaza with Cretan Zeus, Zeus Krētagenēs. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology It is likely that Marnas was the Hellenistic expression of Dagon. His temple, the Marneion — the last surviving great cult center of paganism — was burned by order of the Roman emperor in 402. Saint Porphyry or Saint Porphyrius ( Greek: Πορφύριος Porphyrios; Latin: Porphyrius; Slavonic: Порфирий Treading upon the sanctuary's paving-stones had been forbidden. Christians later used these same to pave the public marketplace.

A modern interpretation of Dagon as a "fish-god" with wide currency on the Internet

Fish-god tradition

Rashi records a tradition that the name Dāgôn is related to Hebrew dāg/dâg 'fish' and that Dagon was imagined in the shape of a fish: compare the Babylonian fish-god Oannes. For the astrological concept see Rāshi (Jyotiṣa. Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, (רבי שלמה יצחקי better known by the acronym Rashi In the thirteenth century David Kimhi interpreted the odd sentence in 1 Samuel 5. David Kimhi (דוד קמחי also Kimchi or Qimchi) (1160 &ndash 1235 also known by the Hebrew Acronym as the RaDaK (he רד"ק 2–7 that "only Dagon was left to him" to mean "only the form of a fish was left", adding: "It is said that Dagon, from his navel down, had the form of a fish (whence his name, Dagon), and from his navel up, the form of a man, as it is said, his two hands were cut off. " The Septuagint text of 1 Samuel 5. The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the 2–7 says that both the arms and the legs of the image of Dagon were broken off. ^[5]

H. Schmökel asserted in 1928^[6] that Dagon was never originally a fish-god, but once he became an important god of those maritime Canaanites, the Phoenicians, the folk-etymological connection with dâg would have ineluctably affected his iconography. Iconography is the branch of Art history which studies the identification description and the interpretation of the content of images ^[7]

Dagon is sometimes identified with Matsya, the fish avatar of Vishnu, who jumped into the ocean to fight a demon. This article concerns the Hindu avatar For the ancient kingdom see Matsya Rajya. For other meanings see Vishnu (disambiguation. Vishnu ( IAST viṣṇu Devanagari विष्णु (honorific A statue in Keshava temple in Somnathpur, India depicts Matsya as a fish from the waist down. The Keshava temple in Somnathpur, near the city of Mysore in the Indian state of Karnataka, is the last major temple of the Hoysala Somanathapura ಸೋಮನಾಥಪುರ (also known as Somnathpur) is a town located 30 km from Mysore city in Mysore district, Karnataka The fish form may be considered as a phallic symbol as seen in the story of the Egyptian grain god Osiris, whose penis was eaten by (conflated with) fish in the Nile after he was attacked by the Typhonic beast Set. Osiris ( Greek language, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Aser, Ausar, Ausir In Ancient Egyptian mythology, Set (also spelled Seth, Sutekh or Seteh) is an ancient god who was originally the god of the Desert Likewise, in the tale depicting the origin of the constellation Capricornus, the Greek god of nature Pan became a fish from the waist down when he jumped into the same river after being attacked by Typhon. Capricornus ( Latin for "horned (male Goat " or "goat horn " is one of the Constellations of the Zodiac. Pan ( Greek, Genitive) is the Greek god of shepherds and flocks of mountain wilds hunting and rustic music paein means to pasture In Greek mythology, Typhon ( Ancient Greek:, Tuphōn) also Typheus / Typhoeus ( Tuphōeus) Typhaon (

Various 19th century scholars, such as Julius Wellhausen and William Robertson Smith, believed the tradition to have been validated from the occasional occurrence of a merman motif found in Assyrian and Phoenician art, including coins from Ashdod and Arvad. Julius Wellhausen ( May 17, 1844 - January 7, 1918) was a German biblical scholar and Orientalist. William Robertson Smith ( 8 November, 1846 – 31 March, 1894) was a Scottish orientalist, Old Testament scholar Mermen are mythical Male Legendary creatures who are Human from the Waist up and Fish -like from the waist down Phoenicia ( Phoenician: Phoenician nunsvg|12px|נ]]Phoenician nun Ashdod (אַשְׁדּוֹד اشدود إسدود Isdud) located in the South District of Israel, on the Mediterranean Sea coast Arwad ( أرواد) &ndash formerly known as Arado ( Άραδο) Arados (Greek Άραδος) Arvad, Arpad

John Milton uses the tradition in his Paradise Lost Book 1:

                                      . John Milton ( 9 December, 1608 – 8 November, 1674) was an English Poet, Prose Polemicist and Paradise Lost is an Epic poem in Blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. . . Next came one
Who mourned in earnest, when the captive ark
Maimed his brute image, head and hands lopt off,
In his own temple, on the grunsel-edge,
Where he fell flat and shamed his worshippers:
Dagon his name, sea-monster, upward man
And downward fish; yet had his temple high
Reared in Azotus, dreaded through the coast
Of Palestine, in Gath and Ascalon,
And Accaron and Gaza's frontier bounds. Ashdod (אַשְׁדּוֹד اشدود إسدود Isdud) located in the South District of Israel, on the Mediterranean Sea coast Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. The city of Ekron (עֶקְרוֹן ʿeqrōn, also transliterated Accaron)

In fiction

For cultural references in the stories of H. P. Lovecraft and its subsequent derivatives in popular culture, see Dagon (short story). Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy "Dagon" is a Short story by H P Lovecraft, written in July 1917, one of the first stories he wrote as an adult

• Dagon appears in Milton's epic poem Samson Agonistes as one of the deities the Philistines worship. John Milton ( 9 December, 1608 – 8 November, 1674) was an English Poet, Prose Polemicist and Samson Agonistes ( Greek: "Samson the agonist " is a tragic Closet drama by John Milton.
• In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, a recurring joke involves an allusion to the vague but unpleasant fate of a "Mr. Terence David John Pratchett, OBE (born 28 April 1948 is an English fantasy, Science fiction, and children's author. Discworld is a comedic Fantasy Book series by the British author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat Hong", who "opened The Three Jolly Luck Takeaway Fish Bar on the site of an old temple to a fish god on Dagon Street at the time of the full moon. "
• In Conan The Destroyer, Dagon or Dagoth is the dream god that comes to life when a jewel encrusted horn is placed on the forehead of his statue. Conan the Destroyer is a 1984 film directed by action/fantasy veteran Richard Fleischer ( 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Vikings
• In the movie Blade Trinity, a character asserts that Dracula was once known as Dagon. Blade Trinity, is a 2004 vampire Action film, written and directed by David S Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary Antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.
• In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Order of Dagon were the protectors of the Key. Fictional narratives (and works of art exist beyond their completion e The Dagon Sphere was an orb that weakened the god Glory. That Which Cannot Be Named, known as Glorificus, " Glory " or the Beast (see name below is a Fictional character in
• In the Pinky & The Brain episode "A Little off the Top", Dagon is shown as a shrew-shaped idol made of paper mache. Pinky and the Brain are Cartoon characters who have starred in the American Animated television series Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs
• The Digimon Dragomon was originally named Dagomon, a reference to Dagon.
• In Number 868 of the webcomic Questionable Content, Faye abandons a game of Battleship with Pintsize. Questionable Content (abbreviated QC) is a slice-of-life Webcomic written and drawn by Jeph Jacques. A battleship is a large heavily armored Warship with a main battery consisting of the largest Calibre of Guns Battleships were Pintsize responds by shouting that the admiral has surrendered, and that all survivors of the "Faye Flotilla are sacrificed to Dagon!"
• In the game Lost Magic, the Dagon is the greater form of the Hydra, a nautilus-like monster, only fire-type. is a Real-time strategy game for the Nintendo DS system although it was advertised as a combination of Role-playing game and Real-time strategy. Nautilus (from Greek ναυτίλος, 'sailor' is the common name of any marine creatures of the Cephalopod family Nautilidae, the sole
• In the album The Chthonic Chronicles by the "British Cosmic War Metal" band Bal-Sagoth, there is reference to one such Dagon in the sixth track, Shackled To The Trilithon Of Kutulu. The Chthonic Chronicles is Bal-Sagoth 's sixth album the first in five years since 2001's Atlantis Ascendant. Bal-Sagoth are a Symphonic black metal band from Yorkshire, England, formed in 1993
• In The Showdown's album A Chorus of Obliteration, the sixth track is named Dagon Undone - The Reckoning, and speaks of Israel's fight against Dagon, and the Philistines who worshiped him. The Showdown is a Christian Metalcore and Southern metal, band based in Elizabethton Tennessee. A Chorus of Obliteration is The Showdown 's debut album It blends Christian Metalcore with Southern metal and Melodic death metal
• The 9th track on Therion's album "Sirius B" is titled "Call of Dagon". Therion is a Swedish Symphonic metal band founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1987 Sirius B is an Album released by the Symphonic metal band Therion.
• In the video-game "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion", the main antagonist, the Daedric Prince of Destruction, Change, Revolution, Energy, and Ambition is named Mehrunes Dagon. The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion is a Single player Fantasy -themed action-oriented Computer role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, "a turnaround" is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively In Physics and other Sciences energy (from the Greek grc ἐνέργεια - Energeia, "activity operation" from grc ἐνεργός The Elder Scrolls (also known as Elder Scrolls or abbreviated as TES) is a Computer role-playing game series developed Mehrunes Dagon also featured in several of the earlier Elder Scrolls games. The Elder Scrolls (also known as Elder Scrolls or abbreviated as TES) is a Computer role-playing game series developed
• In the MMORPG "RF Online", Dagon appears as an incredibly powerful Boss. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game ( MMORPG) is a genre of Computer role-playing games (CRPGs in which a large number of players interact with RF Online, originally named 'Rising Force' ( Korean:라이징 포스 is a 3D MMORPG developed by CCR A boss is a computer-controlled opponent which is found in Video games Their purpose is to test the skills that the player has accumulated over the course of a game Along with him are 2 others named Dagan and Dagnu.
• In the anime series Big O, the robot in episode 7 is named Dagon and went by the nickname "Sea Titan". Dagon was easily destroyed by Big O's Sudden Impact.
• In the anime series Demonbane Dagon was an old evil god brought back to life using the R'yleh text, it was easily destroyed by Demonbane but not before having a long battle
• In the video-game "The Witcher", Dagon is a deity that lives on the bottom of a lake. is a series by Nitroplus with Mecha and Cthulhu Mythos elements With him follows destruction, and he cannot be killed.
• In the MMORPG "Runescape", Dagonoths are large amphibious beings, that live beneath a lighthouse. RuneScape is a Java -based MMORPG ( Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) operated by Jagex Ltd
• In the video game ""Castlevania: Portrait Of Ruin", Dagon is an underwater boss, depicting a duel-bodied frog/lizard/tadpole amalgamation which can suck up the entire room filled of water, and shoot it as a weapon. The upper head lizard-like head is the vulnerable one.
• In the popular Warcraft III: Frozen Throne map "DotA", Dagon is a magical staff with the ability to deal an instant burst of damage to a specific target. "DotA" redirects here For the Basshunter song see Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DotA.
• In Devil May Cry 4, Dagon is a boss character, resembling a giant toad, that is fought by Dante (Devil May Cry). Devil May Cry 4 is the fourth installment of the ''Devil May Cry'' series. Dante is the fictional Protagonist of the Devil May Cry Video game series published by Capcom.
• H. P. Lovecraft, a horror fiction writer from the early 1900's makes many references to the South Eastern sea monster worshipped as a God. Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy His form is huge and grotesque, his followers make live sacrifices into the sea in order to appease him so he grants them an abundance of fish and ever-lasting life once they have completely transformed into similarly hideous creatures. These highlights can be found in H. P. Lovecrafts stories Dagon and The Shadow Over Innsmouth. There is also a movie taken from both stories appropriately called Dagon [1]. Dagon is a 2001 Horror movie directed by Stuart Gordon and written by Dennis Paoli
• The main antagonist in "Mortal Kombat Armageddon" is named Daegon.

Notes

In George RR Martin's highly acclaimed fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, the iron-born pirate-like character Victarion Greyjoy commands, within his Iron Fleet, a ship by the name of Lord Dagon. (Book 4, A Feast for Crows; page 434, paragraph 3)

References

• ANET = Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 3rd ed. with Supplement (1969). Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-03503-2.
• Dagon in Etana: Encyclopædia Bibilica Volume I A–D: Dabarah - David (PDF).
• Feliu, Lluis (2003). The God Dagan in Bronze Age Syria, trans. Wilfred G. E. Watson. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 90-04-13158-2
• Fleming, D. (1993). "Baal and Dagan in Ancient Syria", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 83, pp.  88–98.
• Matthiae, Paolo (1977). Ebla: An Empire Rediscovered. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-22974-8.
• Pettinato, Giovanni (1981). The Archives of Ebla. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-13152-6

Some parts of the above derive from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.