Eshmun (or Eshmoun, less accurately Esmun or Esmoun) was a Phoenician god of healing and the tutelary god of Sidon. Phoenicia ( Phoenician: Phoenician nunsvg|12px|נ]]Phoenician nun Sidon,or Saïda, ( Arabic ar صيدا; Phoenician phoenician yodh Phoenicia ( Phoenician: Phoenician nunsvg|12px|נ]]Phoenician nun Sidon,or Saïda, ( Arabic ar صيدا; Phoenician phoenician yodh
This god was known at least from the Iron Age period at Sidon and was worshipped also in Tyre, Beirut, Cyprus, Sardinia, and in Carthage where the site of Eshmun's temple is now occupied by the chapel of Saint Louis. This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man. Tyre ( Arabic صور Ṣūr, Phoenician Phoenician wawsvg|12px|ו]] Ṣur, Hebrew Beirut (بيروت Bayrūt) is the Capital and Largest city of Lebanon with a population of over 2 Cyprus (Κύπρος transliterated: Kýpros,; Kıbrıs officially the Republic of Cyprus (Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía Sardinia (sɑrˈdɪnɪə Sardegna Sardigna or Sardinnya is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily) Carthage (Καρχηδών Karkhēdōn, Carthago from the Phoenician קרת חדשת phn-Latn Qart-ḥadašt meaning new town) refers
According to Sanchuniathon, Sydyk 'Just', first fathered seven sons equated with the Greek Cabeiri or Dioscuri, no mother named, and then afterwards fathered an eighth son by one of the seven Titanides or Artemides. Sanchuniathon is the purported Phoenician author of three lost works originally in the Phoenician language, surviving only in partial paraphrase and summary of a In Greek mythology, the Cabeiri, ( Cabiri, Kabeiroi, Greek: Κάβειροι were a group of enigmatic Chthonic deities For the stars see Castor (star and Pollux (star, for the sculptural group in the Prado Museum, see Castor and Pollux (Prado, and for (See Kotharat). The Kotharat, or Kotharot, or Kathirat (various suggested pronunciations of Ugaritic ktrt) 'the skilful ones' were a group of northwest The name Eshmun appears to mean 'the Eighth'.
The Neo-Platonist Damascius also stated (Vita Isidori 302):
The Asclepius in Beirut is neither a Greek nor an Egyptian, but some native Phoenician divinity. Damascius (grc Δαμάσκιος born in Damascus ca AD 458 died after AD 538 known as "the last of the Neoplatonists," was the last scholarch of the Beirut (بيروت Bayrūt) is the Capital and Largest city of Lebanon with a population of over 2 For to Sadyk were born children who are interpreted as Dioscuri and Cabeiri; and in addition to these was born an eighth son, Esmunus, who is interpreted as Asclepius.
Photius (Bibliotheca Codex 242) summarizes Damascius as saying further that Asclepius of Beirut was a youth who was fond of hunting. He was seen by the goddess Astronoë (thought by many scholars to be a version of ‘Ashtart) who so harassed him with amorous pursuit that in desperation he castrated himself and died. Astarte (from Greek Ἀστάρτη ( Astártē) is the name of a Goddess as known from Northwestern Semitic regions cognate in name origin Astronoë then named the youth Paeon 'Healer', restored him to life from the warmth of her body, and changed him into a god. A village near Beirut named Qabr Shmoun, "Eshmoun's grave," still exists.
A trilingual inscription of the 2nd century BCE from Sardinia (KAI. The 2nd century BC started the first day of 200 BC and ended the last day of 101 BC. 66) also identifies Eshmun with the Greek Asclepius and the Latin Aesculapius. Asclepius (pronounced /æsˈkliːpiːəs/, Greek, transliterated Asklēpiós; Latin Aesculapius) is the god of Medicine
Pausanias (7. Pausanias ( Greek:) was a Greek traveller and Geographer of the 2nd century CE, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus 23. 7–8) quotes a Sidonian as saying that the Phoenicians claim Apollo as the father of Asclepius, as do the Greeks, but unlike them do not make his mother a mortal woman. The Sidonian then continued with an allegory which explained that Apollo represented the sun, whose changing path imparts to the air its healthiness which is to be understood as Asclepius. This allegory seems likely a late invention. Also Apollo is usually equated with the Phoenician plague god Resheph. Resheph or Reshef (Canaanite/Hebrew sem-Latn ršp he רשף was a Canaanite deity of plague and war. This might be a variant version of Eshmun's parentage, or Apollo might also be equated with Sadyk, Sadyk might be equated with Resheph.
The name Astresmunim, "herb of Eshmun. " was applied by Dioscorides (4. Pedanius Dioscorides (Πεδάνιος Διοσκορίδης ca 71) to the solanum, which was regarded as having medicinal qualities.
The temple to Eshmun is found 1 km from Sidon on the Bostrenus River, the modern River Awwali. Building was begun at the end of the 6th century BCE during the reign of Eshmunazar II, and later additions were made up into the Roman period. The 6th century BC started the first day of 600 BC and ended the last day of 501 BC. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial It was excavated by Maurice Dunand in 1963-1978. Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) Many votive offerings were found in the form of statues of persons healed by the god, especially babies and young children.
Also found near the Sidon temple was a gold plaque of Eshmun and the goddess Hygeia, "Health," showing Eshmun holding a staff in his right hand around which a serpent is entwined. In Greek mythology, Hygieia ( or Hygeia ( was a daughter of Asclepius. A coin of the 3rd century CE from Beirut shows Eshmun standing between two serpents. The 3rd century is the period from 201 to 300 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era.
Bterram, a village in Lebanon, possesses a very old underground temple called Eshmunit, comprising eight rooms (one large and seven small), carved into the bedrock and accessible by stairs. Lebanon (ˈlɛbənɒn Arabic: ar لبنان Lubnān) officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic (ar الجمهورية اللبنانية It is thought this may be a temple to a spouse of Eshmun.
External links
- Temple of Eshmun near Sidon
- Bterram: Eshmunit (On the temple of Eshmunit in Bterram. )
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