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Ancient Near Eastern deities
Levantine deities

Adonis | Anat | Asherah | Ashima | Astarte | Atargatis | Ba'al | Berith | Chemosh | Dagon | Derceto | El | Elyon | Eshmun | Hadad | Kothar | Melqart | Mot | Moloch | Qetesh | Resheph | Shalim | Yarikh | Yam | YHWH
Mesopotamian deities

Adad | Amurru | An/Anu | Anshar | Ashur | Abzu/Apsu | Enki/Ea | Enlil | Ereshkigal | Inanna/Ishtar | Kingu | Kishar | Lahmu & Lahamu | Marduk | Mummu | Nabu | Nammu | Nanna/Sin | Nergal | Ningizzida | Ninhursag | Ninlil | Tiamat | Utu/Shamash
Egyptian deities
Amun | Ra | Apis | Bakha | Osiris | Ptah
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Melqart (Canaanite Hebrew מלקרת a compression of מלך-קרת meaning "King of the City," less accurately Melkart, Melkarth or Melgart (Greek disposed of the letter Q (Qoppa), replacing it with additional use of K (Kappa) and G (Gamma)), Akkadian Milqartu, was the tutelary god of the Phoenician city of Tyre, as Eshmun protected Sidon. 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 Dagon was a major northwest Semitic god reportedly of grain and agriculture 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" 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 Qoppa or Koppa ( Ϙ) is a letter that was used in early forms of the Greek alphabet, derived from Phoenician Qoph. Kappa (uppercase &Kappa, lowercase &kappa or ϰ; Κάππα is the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet, used to represent the Voiceless Gamma (uppercase &Gamma, lowercase γ Γάμμα is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. Phoenicia ( Phoenician: Phoenician nunsvg|12px|נ]]Phoenician nun Tyre ( Arabic صور Ṣūr, Phoenician Phoenician wawsvg|12px|ו]] Ṣur, Hebrew Eshmun (or Eshmoun, less accurately Esmun or Esmoun) was a Phoenician god of healing and the tutelary god of Sidon. Sidon,or Saïda, ( Arabic ar صيدا; Phoenician phoenician yodh Melqart was often titled Ba‘al Ṣur "Lord of Tyre", the ancestral king of the royal line. Ba'al (pronounced; Hebrew בעל (ordinarily spelled Baal in English is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" In Greek he was normally referred to as the Tyrian Herakles and in Latin as the Tyrian Hercules, presumably because of a close resemblance to the Greek hero/god Herakles in mythology and cult. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Hercules is the Roman name for the Mythical Greek hero Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome.

Melqart was venerated in Phoenician and Punic cultures from Syria to Spain. Phoenicia ( Phoenician: Phoenician nunsvg|12px|נ]]Phoenician nun The Punics, (from Latin pūnicus meaning Phoenician were a group of Western Semitic speaking peoples originating from Carthage Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The first occurrence of the name is in a ninth-century BCE inscription from Aleppo in northern Syria, the "Bar-Hadad" inscription. For other meanings see Aleppo (disambiguation. Halab redirects here for other meanings see Halab (disambiguation.

Contents

Cult: literary testimony

Melqart is likely to have been the particular Ba‘al found in the Tanach from 1 Kings 16. See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is The Books of Kings ( Sefer Melachim, ספר מלכים are a part of Judaism 's Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. 31–10. 26 whose worship was prominently introduced into Israel by King Ahab and largely eradicated by King Jehu. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Ahab (or Ach'av or) was king of Israel and the son and successor of Omri ( 1 Kings 1629-34 ' Yehu redirects here for the instrument see Yehu (instrument. In 1 Kings 18. The Books of Kings ( Sefer Melachim, ספר מלכים are a part of Judaism 's Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. 27 it is possible there is a mocking reference to legendary Heraclean journeys made by the god and to the egersis 'awakening' of the god:

And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry out loud: for he is a god; either he is lost in thought, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened. "

The Hellenistic novelist Heliodorus of Emesa in his Aethiopica refers to the dancing of Tyrian sailors in honor of the Tyrian Heracles: "Now they leap spiritedly into the air, now they bend their knees to the ground and revolve on them like persons possessed. Heliodorus of Emesa, from Emesa, Syria, was a Greek writer generally dated to the third century AD who is known for the ancient Greek romance "

The historian Herodotus recorded (2. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash 44):

In the wish to get the best information that I could on these matters, I made a voyage to Tyre in Phoenicia, hearing there was a temple of Heracles at that place, very highly venerated. I visited the temple, and found it richly adorned with a number of offerings, among which were two pillars, one of pure gold, the other of smaragdos, shining with great brilliancy at night. In a conversation which I held with the priests, I inquired how long their temple had been built, and found by their answer that they, too, differed from the Hellenes. They said that the temple was built at the same time that the city was founded, and that the foundation of the city took place 2,300 years ago. In Tyre I remarked another temple where the same god was worshipped as the Thasian Heracles. So I went on to Thasos, where I found a temple of Heracles which had been built by the Phoenicians who colonised that island when they sailed in search of Europa. Thasos or Thassos (Θάσος is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea, close to the coast of Thrace and the plain of the river Europa ( Greek Εὐρώπη was a Phoenician woman of high lineage in Greek mythology, from whom the name of the Continent Europe Even this was five generations earlier than the time when Heracles, son of Amphitryon, was born in Hellas. Amphitryon, or Amphitrion, in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία These researches show plainly that there is an ancient god Heracles; and my own opinion is that those Hellenes act most wisely who build and maintain two temples of Heracles, in the one of which the Heracles worshipped is known by the name of Olympian, and has sacrifice offered to him as an immortal, while in the other the honours paid are such as are due to a hero. The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon ( Greek: Δωδεκάθεον

Josephus records (Antiquities 8. 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 5. 3), following Menander the historian, concerning King Hiram I of Tyre (c. Hiram I ( Hebrew: חִירָם "high-born" Standard Hebrew Ḥiram, Tiberian vocalization Ḥîrām) according to 965–935 BCE):

He also went and cut down materials of timber out of the mountain called Lebanon, for the roof of temples; and when he had pulled down the ancient temples, he both built the temple of Heracles and that of Astarte; and he was the first to celebrate the awakening (egersis) of Heracles in the month Peritius. Events and trends 967 BC — Tiglath-Pileser II becomes King of Assyria. Events and trends 935 BC — Death of Zhou gong wang, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China. Mount Lebanon ( Arabic: جبل لبنان as a geographic designation is the Lebanese mountain range known as the Western Mountain Range of Lebanon Astarte (from Greek Ἀστάρτη ( Astártē) is the name of a Goddess as known from Northwestern Semitic regions cognate in name origin

(William Whiston's translation incorrectly has "first set up the temple of Heracles in . William Whiston ( 9 December 1667 &ndash 22 August 1752) was as English Theologian, Historian, and . ". ) The Macedonian month of Peritius corresponds to our February, indicating this annual awakening was in no way a solstitial celebration. Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most It would have coincided with the normal ending of the winter rains. The annual observation of the revival of Melqart's egersis 'awakening' may identify Melqart as a life-death-rebirth deity. The category life-death-rebirth deity also known as a "dying-and-rising" or "Resurrection" Deity is a convenient means of classifying the many divinities

Archaeological evidence

Archaeological evidence for Melqart's cult is first found in Tyre and seems to have spread westward with the Phoenician colonies established by Tyre as well as eventually overshadowing the worship of Eshmun in Sidon, The name of Melqart was invoked in oaths sanctioning contracts, according to Dr. Aubet, thus it was customary to build a temple to Melqart, as protector of Tyrian traders, in each new Phoenician colony: at Cadiz, the temple to Melqart is as early as the earliest vestiges of Phoenician occupation. Cádiz ( Spanish:) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the province of the same name, a province which is one of eight (The Greeks followed a parallel practise in respect to their Heracles. ) Carthage even sent a yearly tribute of 10% of the public treasury to the god in Tyre up until the Hellenistic period. Carthage (Καρχηδών Karkhēdōn, Carthago from the Phoenician קרת חדשת phn-Latn Qart-ḥadašt meaning new town) refers This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. In Tyre, the high priest of Melqart ranked second only to the king. Many names in Carthage reflected this importance of Melqart, for example, the names Hamilcar and Bomilcar; but Ba‘al or Ba‘l as a name-element in Carthaginian names such as Hasdrubal and Hannibal almost certainly does not refer to Melqart but either to Ba‘al Hammon (the chief god of Carthage, a god identified by Greeks with Cronus and by Romans with Saturn) or is simply used as a title (Ba‘al or Ba‘l literally meaning Lord). Hamilcar ( Punic -Phoenician ḥmlqrt, Canaanite Hebrew אחי-מלקרת meaning brother of Melqart, a Tyrian god) was Bomilcar may refer to Bomilcar (4th century BC (4th century BC a Carthaginian commander in the war against Agathocles Bomilcar (Suffete Hannibal (Pronounced in Phoenician: Hanniba'al means " Ba'al is my grace " or " Ba'al has given me grace " 247 BC &ndash Ba'al (pronounced; Hebrew בעל (ordinarily spelled Baal in English is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" Cronus or Kronos, ( Ancient Greek Κρόνος Krónos) was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, divine descendants Saturn ( Latin: Saturnus) was a major Roman God of agriculture and harvest

Melqart protected the Punic areas of Sicily such as Ras Melqart 'Cape of Melqart', where his head, indistinguishable from a Heracles, appears on locally-minted coins of the 4th century B. The Punics, (from Latin pūnicus meaning Phoenician were a group of Western Semitic speaking peoples originating from Carthage Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. C.

Temple sites

Temples to Melqart are found at least three Phoenician/Punic sites in Spain: Cadiz, Ibiza in the Balearic Islands, and Cartagena. Near Gades/Gadeira (modern Cádiz) was the westernmost temple of Tyrian Heracles, near the eastern shore of the island (Strabo 3. Cádiz ( Spanish:) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the province of the same name, a province which is one of eight Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. 5. 2–3). Strabo notes (3. 5. 5–6) that the two bronze pillars within the temple, each 8 cubits high, were widely proclaimed to be the true Pillars of Heracles by many who had visited the place and had sacrificed to Heracles there. The Pillars of Hercules was the phrase that was applied in Antiquity to the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. But Strabo believes the account to be fraudulent, in part noting that the inscriptions on those pillars mentioned nothing about Heracles, speaking only of the expenses occurred by the Phoenicians in their making.

Another temple to Melqart was at Ebyssus (Ibiza), in one of four Phoenician sites on the island's south coast. Ibiza (Eivissa is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea about 80 km off the coast of Spain In 2004 a highway crew in the Avinguda Espanya, (one of the main routes into Ibiza), uncovered a further Punic temple in the excavated roadbed. Texts found mention Melqart among other Punic gods Esmum, Astarté, and Baal.

Yet another Iberian temple to Melqart has been identified at Carthago Nova (Cartagena). Cartagena ( is a Spanish Mediterranean city and naval station in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula in the autonomous community of Region of Murcia Cartagena ( is a Spanish Mediterranean city and naval station in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula in the autonomous community of Region of Murcia The Tyrian god's protection extended to the sacred promontory (Cape Saint Vincent) of the Iberian peninsula, the westernmost point of the known world, ground so sacred it was forbidden even to spend the night. Cape St Vincent (Cabo de São Vicente 'kabu dɨ sɐ̃ũ vi'sẽtɨ next to the Sagres Point, on the so-called Costa Vicentina (Vincentine Coast is

Hannibal and Melqart

Hannibal was an example of a worshiper of Melqart. Hannibal (Pronounced in Phoenician: Hanniba'al means " Ba'al is my grace " or " Ba'al has given me grace " 247 BC &ndash Just before setting off on his march to Italy he made a pilgrimage to Gades, the most ancient seat of Phoenician worship in the west. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Cádiz ( Spanish:) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the province of the same name, a province which is one of eight Hannibal strengthened himself spiritually by prayer and sacrifice at the Altar of Melqart. He returned to New Carthage with his mind focused on the god and on the eve of departure to Italy he saw a strange vision which he believed was sent by Melqart. Cartagena ( is a Spanish Mediterranean city and naval station in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula in the autonomous community of Region of Murcia

A youth of divine beauty appeared to Hannibal in the night. The youth told Hannibal he had been sent by supreme deity, Melqart, to guide the son of Hamilcar to Italy. Hamilcar Barca or Barcas (ca 275 &ndash 228 BC was a Carthaginian general and statesman leader of the Barcid family and father of Hannibal “Follow me,” said the ghostly visitor, “and see that that thou look not behind thee. ” Hannibal followed the instructions of the visitor. His curiosity, however, overcame him, and as he turned his head, Hannibal saw a serpent crashing through forest and thicket causing destruction everywhere. It moved as a black tempest with claps of thunder and flashes of lightning gathered behind the serpent. When Hannibal asked the meaning of the vision Melqart replied, “What thou beholdest is the desolation of Italy. Follow thy star and inquire no farther into the dark counsels of heaven. ”

Mythology: Greek

It is generally suspected that the Greek Melicertes son of Ino was in origin a reflection of Melqart though no classical source explicitly connects the two. Melicertes Μελικέρτης (sometimes Melecertes, later called Palaemon Παλαίμων) in Greek mythology, the son of the

Athenaeus (392d) summarizes a story by Eudoxus of Cnidus (c. Athenaeus ( Ancient Greek - Athếnaios Naukratios Latin Athenaeus Naucratita of Naucratis in Egypt Greek rhetorician and grammarian flourished Eudoxus of Cnidus ( Greek Εὔδοξος ὁ Κνίδιος (410 or 408 BC &ndash 355 or 347 BC was a Greek Astronomer, Mathematician 355 BCE) telling how Heracles the son of Zeus by Asteria (= ‘Ashtart ?) was killed by Typhon in Libya. Events By place Greece King Artaxerxes III of Persia forces Athens to conclude a peace which requires the city to Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology In Greek mythology, Asteria was a name attributed to five individuals Amazon Asteria was the sixth Amazon killed by Heracles when In Greek mythology, Typhon ( Ancient Greek:, Tuphōn) also Typheus / Typhoeus ( Tuphōeus) Typhaon ( Ancient Libya was the region west of the Nile Valley. It corresponds to what is now generally called Northwest Africa. Heracles' companion Iolaus brought a quail to the dead god (presumably a roasted quail) and its delicious scent roused Heracles back to life. For the Butterfly Genus, see Iolaus (butterfly. In Greek mythology, Iolaus (in Greek, Ἰόλαος This purports to explain why the Phoenicians sacrifice quails to Heracles. It seems that Melqart had a companion similar to the Hellenic Iolaus. Sanchuniathon also makes Melqart under the name Malcarthos or Melcathros the son of Hadad who is normally identified with Zeus. Sanchuniathon is the purported Phoenician author of three lost works originally in the Phoenician language, surviving only in partial paraphrase and summary of a Haddad בעל הדד (in Ugaritic Haddu) was a very important northwest Semitic storm and rain god, cognate in name and origin with the

The Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions (10. Clementine literature (also called Clementia, Pseudo-Clementine Writings, The Preaching of Peter - Kerygmata Petrou - etc 24) speaks of the tombs of various gods including "that of Heracles at Tyre, where he was burnt with fire. " The Hellenic Heracles also died on a pyre, but the event was located on Mount Oeta in Trachis. A similar tradition is recorded by Dio Chrysostom (Or. 33.47) who mentions the beautiful pyre which the Tarsians used to build for their Heracles, referring here to the Cilician god Sandan. Dio Chrysostom (Δίων Χρυσόστομος) Dion of Prusa or Dio Cocceianus (ca Tarsus ( Greek Ταρσός is a City, and a large district in Mersin Province, Turkey, from the city of Mersin and near (40 Geography Cilicia extended along the Aegean coast east from Pamphylia, to Mount Amanus ( Gavurdağı Mount) which separated it from Syria

To be sure, in Nonnus' Dionysiaca (40. 366–580) the Tyrian Heracles is very much a sun god. However there is a tendency in the later Hellenistic and Roman periods for almost all gods to develop solar attributes and for almost all eastern gods to be identified with the sun. Nonnus gives the title Astrochiton 'Starclad' to Tyrian Heracles and has his Dionysus recite a hymn to this Heracles, saluting him as: the son of Time, he who causes the threefold image of the Moon, the all-shining Eye of the heavens. In Classical mythology, Dionysus or Dionysos (in Greek, Διόνυσος or Διώνυσος; associated with Roman Rain is ascribed to the shaking from his head of the waters of the his bath in the eastern Ocean. Ocean (Ὠκεανός was believed to be the world-ocean in Classical antiquity, which the ancient Romans and Greeks considered to be His sun disk is praised as the cause of growth in plants. Then, in a climactic burst of syncretism, Dionysus identifies the Tyrian Heracles with Belus on the Euphrates, Ammon in Libya, Apis by the Nile, Arabian Cronus, Assyrian Zeus, Serapis, Zeus of Egypt, Cronus, Phaethon, Mithras, Delphic Apollo, Gamos 'Marriage', and Paeon 'Healer'. Belus or Belos in classical Greek or classical Latin texts (and later material based on them in a Babylonian context refers to the Babylonian Ammon or Ammonites ( also referred to in the Bible as the "children of Ammon" were a people (also known from Assyrian and other records living east The Nile (النيل, Ancient Egyptian iteru or Ḥ'pī, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing River The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية šibh al-jazīra al-ʻarabīya or جزيرة العرب jazīrat al-ʻarab) Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Serapis (Latin spelling or Sarapis in Greek was a syncretic Hellenistic - Egyptian god in Antiquity. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Cronus or Kronos, ( Ancient Greek Κρόνος Krónos) was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, divine descendants In Greek mythology, Phaëton or Phaethon (ˈfeɪətn or /ˈfeɪəθən/ (Φαέθων "shining" was the son of Helios ( Phoebus The Mithraic Mysteries or Mysteries of Mithras (also Mithraism) was a Roman mystery religion which became popular among the military in the late Delphi ( Greek,) ( pronounce and dialectal forms) is an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western

The Tyrian Heracles answers by appearing to Dionysus. There is red light in the fiery eyes of this shining god who clothed in a robe embroidered like the sky (presumably with various constellations). He has yellow, sparkling cheeks and a starry beard. The god reveals how he taught the primeval, earthborn inhabitants of Phoenicia how to build the first boat and instructed them to sail out to a pair of floating, rocky islands. On one of the islands there grew an olive tree with a serpent at its foot, an eagle at its summit, and which glowed in the middle with fire that burned but did not consume. Following the god's instructions, these primeval humans sacrificed the eagle to Poseidon, Zeus, and the other gods. Thereupon the islands rooted themselves to the bottom of the sea. On these islands the city of Tyre was founded.

Gregory Nazianzen (Oratio 4. Gregory of Nazianzus (329 – January 25 389) (also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen) was a 4th-century Archbishop 108) and Cassiodorus (Variae 1. Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c 485 - c 585 commonly known as Cassiodorus, was a Roman statesman and great writer serving in the administration 2) relate how Tyrian Heracles and the nymph Tyrus were walking along the beach when Heracles' dog, who was accompanying them, devoured a murex snail and gained a beautiful purple color around its mouth. Tyrus told Heracles she would never accept him as her lover until he gave her a robe of that same colour. So Heracles gathered many murex shells, extracted the dye from them, and dyed the first garment of the colour later called Tyrian purple. The murex shell appears on the very earliest Tyrian coins and then reappears again on coins in Imperial Roman times.

Attempts at a synthesis

Because of the scanty evidence scholars vary widely on what kind of a god Melqart was. William F. Albright in Archaeology and the Religion of Israel (Baltimore, 1953; pp. William Foxwell Albright ( May 24, 1891 – September 19 / September 20, 1971) was an American archaeologist, 81, 196) suggested Melqart was a god of the underworld partly because a god Malku who may be Melqart is sometimes equated with the Mesopotamian god Nergal, a god of the underworld, whose name also means 'King of the City'. The name Nergal (or Nirgal, Nirgali) refers to a Deity in Babylonia with the main seat Others take this to be coincidental, since what we know about Melqart from other sources does not suggest an underworld god and it is more natural to understand the city to be Tyre. It has been suggested that Melqart began as a sea god who was later given solar attributes or alternatively that he began as a solar god who later received the attributes of a sea god. In fact little is known of his cult.

See also

References

External links

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