Dagon

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Jump to: navigation, search For the H.P. Lovecraft story, see Dagon (short story). For the butterfly genus, see Dagon (butterfly). For the film, see Dagon (film).

Ancient Southwest Asian deities

Levantine deities donis ! nat ! sherah ! shima ! starte ! targatis ! "a#al ! "erith ! Dagon ! Derceto ! $l ! $lyon ! $shmun ! %adad ! &othar ! 'ot ! 'oloch ! (etesh ! )esheph ! *halim ! +arikh ! +am Mesopotamian deities dad ! murru ! n, nu ! nshar ! shur ! b-u, psu ! $nki,$a ! $nlil ! $reshkigal ! .nanna,.shtar ! &ingu ! &ishar ! /ahmu 0 /ahamu ! 'arduk ! 'ummu ! 1abu ! 1ammu ! 1anna,*in ! 1ergal ! 1ingi--ida ! 1inhursag ! 1inlil ! 2iamat ! 3tu,*hamash
2his bo4: vie5 6 talk 6 edit

Dagon 5as a ma7or north5est *emitic god, reportedly of grain and agriculture. He was worshipped by the early Amorites and by the inhabitants of the cities of $bla and 3garit. He was also a major member, or perhaps head, of the pantheon of the Biblical hilistines. 2his position as ma7or god of the enemies of the ncient .sraelites lead to Dagon#s demoni-ation in the %ebre5 "ible. %is name appears in %ebre5 as ( in modern transcription Dagon, 2iberian %ebre5 D!n), in 3garitic as dgn (probably vocali-ed as Dagnu), and in kkadian as Dagana,

Daguna usually rendered in $nglish translations as Dagan.

"ontents
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: $tymology ; 1on<"iblical sources = .n "iblical te4ts and commentaries > 'arnas ? Fish<god tradition @ .n fiction A )eferences B *ee also

#edit$ %tymology
.n 3garitic, the root dgn also means grain: in %ebre5 dgn, *amaritan dgan, is an archaic 5ord for grain, perhaps related to the 'iddle %ebre5 and Je5ish ramaic 5ord dgn #be cut open# or to rabic dagn #rain<(cloud). 2he Choenician author *anchuniathon also says Dagon means siton, that being the Dreek 5ord for grain. *anchuniathon further e4plains: E nd Dagon, after he discovered grain and the plough, 5as called Feus rotrios.E 2he 5ord arotrios means EploughmanE, Epertaining to agricultureE. 2he theory relating the name to %ebre5 dg,dg, fish, based solely upon a reading of : *amuel ?:;GA is discussed in Fish-god tradition belo5.

#edit$ &on'Biblical sources

2he god Dagon first appears in e4tant records about ;?HH "I in the 'ari te4ts and in personal morite names in 5hich the gods .lu (Jl), Dagan, and dad are especially common. t $bla (2ell 'ardikh), from at least ;=HH "I, Dagan 5as the head of the city pantheon comprising some ;HH deities and bore the titles B -D!"#!$-D!"#!$, E/ord of the godsE and Be%ala&, E/ord of the landE. %is consort 5as kno5n only as "elatu, E/adyE. "oth 5ere 5orshipped in a large temple comple4 called $<'ul, E%ouse of the *tarE. Kne entire Luarter of $bla and one of its gates 5ere named after Dagan. Dagan is called ti-lu matim, (dew of the land( and Be-ka-na-na, possibly (Lord of "anaan() %e 5as called lord of many cities: of 2uttul, .rim, 'a<1e, Farad, 3guash, *i5ad, and *ipishu. n interesting early reference to Dagan occurs in a letter to &ing Fimri</im of 'ari, :Bth century "I, 5ritten by .tur< sduu an official in the court of 'ari and governor of 1ahur (the "iblical city of 1ahor) ('" (, p. @;=). .t relates a dream of a Eman from *hakaE in 5hich Dagan appeared. .n the dream, Dagan blamed Fimri</im#s failure to subdue the &ing of the +aminites upon Fimri</im#s failure to bring a report of his deeds to Dagan in 2erLa. Dagan promises that 5hen Fimri</im has done so: E. 5ill have the

kings of the +aminites 8coo)%ed on a fisherman#s s*it, and . 5ill lay them before you.E .n 3garit around :=HH "I, Dagon had a large temple and 5as listed third in the pantheon follo5ing a father<god and l, and preceding "al apn (that is the god Haddu or %adad, dad). Joseph Fontenrose first demonstrated that, 5hatever their deep origins, at 3garit Dagon 5as identified 5ith $l,8:9 e4plaining 5hy Dagan, 5ho had an important temple at 3garit is so neglected in the )as *hamra mythological te4ts, 5here Dagon is mentioned solely in passing as the father of the god %adad, but nat, $l#s daughter, is "aal#s sister, and 5hy no temple of $l has appeared at 3garit. 2here are differences bet5een the 3garitic pantheon and that of Choenicia centuries later: according to the third<hand Dreek and Ihristian reports of *anchuniathon, the Choenician mythographer 5ould have Dagon the brother of l/Ironus and like him son of *ky,3ranus and $arth, but not truly %adad#s father. %adad8;9 5as begotten by E*kyE on a concubine before *ky 5as castrated by his son l, whereupon the pregnant concubine was given to Dagon. Accordingly, Dagon in this version is Hadad's half-brother and stepfather. 2he "y-antine ty&ologicon +agnu& says that Dagon ,as Ironus in Choenicia.8=9 Kther5ise, 5ith the disappearance of Choenician literary te4ts, Dagon has practically no surviving mythology. Dagan is mentioned occasionally in early *umerian te4ts but becomes prominent only in later kkadian inscriptions as a po5erful and 5arlike protector, sometimes eLuated 5ith $nlil. Dagan#s 5ife 5as in some sources the goddess *hala (also named as 5ife of dad and sometimes identified 5ith 1inlil). .n other te4ts, his 5ife is .shara. .n the preface to his famous la5 code, &ing %ammurabi calls himself Ethe subduer of the settlements along the $uphrates 5ith the help of Dagan, his creatorE. n inscription about an e4pedition of 1aram<*in to the Iedar 'ountain relates ('" (, p. ;@B): E1aram<*in sle5 rman and .bla 5ith the #5eapon# of the god Dagan 5ho aggrandi-es his kingdom.E 2he stele of shurnasirpal .. ('" (, p. ??B) refers to shurnasirpal as the favorite of nu and of Dagan. .n an ssyrian poem, Dagan appears beside 1ergal and 'isharu as a 7udge of the dead. late "abylonian te4t makes him the under5orld prison 5arder of the seven children of the god $mmesharra. 2he Choenician inscription on the sarcophagus of &ing $shmuna-ar of *idon (?th century "I) relates ('" (, p. @@;): EFurthermore, the /ord of &ings gave us Dor and Joppa, the mighty lands of Dagon, 5hich are in the Clain of *haron, in accordance 5ith the important deeds 5hich . did.E Dagan 5as sometimes used in royal names. 25o kings of the Dynasty of .sin 5ere .ddin< Dagan (c. :MA>G:M?> "I) and .shme<Dagan (c. :M?=G:M=? "I). 2he latter name 5as later used by t5o ssyrian kings: .shme<Dagan . (c. :AB;G:A>; "I) and .shme<Dagan .. (c. :@:HG:?M> "I).

#edit$ *n Biblical te+ts and commentaries

.n the 2anakh, Dagon is particularly the god of the Chilistines 5ith temples at "eth<dagon in the tribe of sher (Joshua :M.;A), in Da-a (Judges :@.;=, 5hich tells soon after ho5 the temple is destroyed by *amson as his last act). nother temple, in shdod 5as mentioned in : *amuel ?.;GA and again as late as : 'accabees :H.B=N::.>). 2here 5as also a second place kno5n as "eth<Dagon in the Judah (Joshua :?.>:). Josephus

('nti-uities :;.B.:N .ar :.;.=) mentions a place named Dagon above Jericho. Jerome mentions Iaferdago bet5een Diospolis and Jamnia. 2here is also a modern "eit De7an south<east of 1ablus. *ome of these toponyms may have to do 5ith grain rather than the god. 2he account in : *amuel ?.;GA relates ho5 the ark of +ah5eh 5as captured by the Chilistines and taken to Dagon#s temple in shdod. 2he follo5ing morning they found the image of Dagon lying prostrate before the ark. 2hey set the image upright, but again on the morning of the follo5ing day they found it prostrate before the ark, but this time 5ith head and hands severed, lying on the &i*tn translated as EthresholdE or EpodiumE. 2he account continues 5ith the pu--ling 5ords ra- dg/n ni0ar lyw, 5hich means literally Eonly Dagon 5as left to him.E (2he *eptuagint, Ceshitta, and 2argums render EDagonE here as Etrunk of DagonE or Ebody of DagonE, presumably referring to the lo5er part of his image.) 2hereafter 5e are told that neither the priests or anyone ever steps on the &i*tn of Dagon in shdod Eunto this dayE. 2his story is depicted on the frescoes of the Dura<$uropos synagogue as the opposite to a depiction of the %igh Criest aron and the 2emple of *olomon.

#edit$ Marnas
2he vita of Corphyry of Da-a, mentions the great god of Da-a, kno5n as 'arnas ( ramaic +arn the E /ordE), 5ho 5as regarded as the god of rain and grain and invoked against famine. 'arna of Da-a appears on coinage of the time of %adrian.8>9 %e 5as identified at Da-a 5ith Iretan Feus, 1eus 2r3tagen3s. .t is likely that 'arnas 5as the %ellenistic e4pression of Dagon. %is temple, the 'arneion, 5as burned by order of the )oman emperor in >H;, the last surviving great cult center of paganism. 2reading upon the sanctuary#s paving<stones had been forbidden. Ihristians later used these same to pave the public marketplace.

#edit$ ,ish'god tradition

)ashi records a tradition that the name Dg/n is related to %ebre5 dg,dg #fish# and that Dagon 5as imagined in the shape of a fish: compare the "abylonian fish<god Kannes. .n the thirteenth century David &imhi interpreted the odd sentence in : *amuel ?.;GA that Eonly Dagon 5as left to himE to mean Eonly the form of a fish 5as leftE, adding: E.t is said that Dagon, from his navel do5n, had the form of a fish (5hence his name, Dagon), and from his navel up, the form of a man, as it is said, his t5o hands 5ere cut off.E 2he *eptuagint te4t of : *amuel ?.;GA says that both the arms and the legs of the image of Dagon 5ere broken off.8?9 %. *chmOkel asserted in :M;B8@9 that Dagon 5as never originally a fish<god, but once he became an important god of those maritime Ianaanites, the Choenicians, the folk< etymological connection 5ith dg 5ould have ineluctably affected his iconography.8A9 Dagon is sometimes identified with Matsya, the fish avatar of -ishnu, 5ho 7umped into the ocean to fight a demon. statue in &eshava temple in *omnathpur, .ndia depicts 'atsya as a fish from the 5aist do5n. 2he fish form may be considered as a phallic symbol as seen in the story of the $gyptian grain god Ksiris, 5hose penis 5as eaten by (conflated 5ith) fish in the 1ile after he 5as attacked by the (y*honic beast *et.

/ike5ise, in the tale depicting the origin of the constellation Iapricornus, the Dreek god of nature Can became a fish from the 5aist do5n 5hen he 7umped into the same river after being attacked by 2yphon. Parious :Mth century scholars, such as Julius Wellhausen and William )obertson *mith, believed the tradition to have been validated from the occasional occurrence of a merman motif found in ssyrian and Choenician art, including coins from shdod and rvad. John 'ilton uses the tradition in his Paradise Lost "ook ::
... 1e4t came one Who mourned in earnest, 5hen the captive ark 'aimed his brute image, head and hands lopt off, .n his o5n temple, on the grunsel<edge, Where he fell flat and shamed his 5orshippers: Dagon his name, sea<monster, up5ard man nd do5n5ard fishN yet had his temple high )eared in -otus, dreaded through the coast Kf Calestine, in Dath and scalon, nd ccaron and Da-a#s frontier bounds.