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Dagon was the god of the Philistines, Judg. 16: 23-26. 1 Sam. 5: 1-5. 1 Macc. 10: 83. Temples were erected in honour of this deity at Gaza, at Azotus, at Ascalon, as is clear both from Diodor. Sic. II. 4. Herodotus I. 105. and from ancient coins; (see Michaelis alte Or. Bibl. VI. Th. S. 86-99.) and perhaps in some other cities of the Philistines, who formerly emigrated from Egypt, where certain fishes were worshipped with divine honours. This deity is not to be confounded with the Ashtaroth, in whose temple the Philistines (1 Sam. 31: 10) deposited the armour of Saul. It is true, that in the parallel passage in 1 Chron. 10: 10, the Hebrew is the temple of their god, but, though the noun be masculine, it may be applied to Ashtaroth, i. e. Ashtaroth may be considered as being meant here, since the Hebrew has no separate termination in this instance for the feminine.

Dagon also was of the feminine gender, and Herodotus, who says, she was worshipped at Ascalon, compares her to Venus, I. 105. This idol is likewise called Derketo, Athara, and Atargatis, Strabo p. 748, 785. Lucian DE DEA SYRA. That the name Derketo is Syriac, the termination to is itself an indication. Indeed Diodorus Siculus (I. 4.) expressly says, that the goddess worshipped at Ascalon was called by the Syrians, Derketo.

The origin of the name was this. A very large temple was erected to her at Mabug or Hierapolis in Syria, where she was worshipped, and where her statue was a female form throughout. Within this Temple was a chasm or fissure in the earth, (7άoua,) into which the worshippers on certain days poured water. Hence the goddess was denominated by the Syrians nn, i. e. a fissure, which at length appeared under the altered form of Derketo, Jacob Surug IN ASSEMANI BIBLIOTH. ORIENT. T. I. p. 327, 328, and T. II. IN INDICE Geograph.

The mythological story in respect to Derketo, is, that she fell in love with a youth through the arts of Venus, and that the fruit of their embraces was Semiramis, who being exposed, but found and educated by shepherds afterwards became queen of Assyria, while Derketo herself was transformed into a fish.

It is stated, however, in the work already alluded to, (Lucian DE DEA SYRA.) that many supposed the Temple, erected at Hierapolis, belonged to Juno, and that it was built by Deucalion after his escape from the waters of the flood, in memory of the fact,

415. OF OTHER DEITIES.

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that the waters of the deluge had escaped through that aperture in the earth, already spoken of, over which the Temple was built. Something in corroboration of this view of the subject may be inferred from the representations on the coins of the city of Ascalon, which exhibit on one side a figure of Derketo, and on the other, a ship with seven, eight, or nine men. So that the mythology of the goddess in question, which is sufficiently wonderful, appears to have been founded, partly on the traditionary accounts of the Deluge, and partly on the opinions which were prevalent among the ancients respecting either the mermaid, or that animal of the ocean, denominated by Linnaeus TRICHECUS MANATUS, (sea-cow.) Compare Donat. in Scheuchzer's PHYSICA SACRA, P. II. p. 281.

§ 415. OF OTHEr deities.

The character of some of the heathen deities mentioned in the Bible, for instance Apollo, Diana Castor and Pollux, may be learnt from the records of profane antiquity; but in regard to that of some others, we are left in great ignorance, for instance,

I. SHEDIM, D, Deut. 32: 17. Ps. 106: 37. It appears, that children were sacrificed to the deities thus named; that they were considered to be of an angry nature, and inimical to the human race; and that the object of the homage rendered to them, was to avert calamities. The name may signify either lord or master, or any thing that is black; it being derived from an Ara

bic Ain Vav verb, viz. Úĺw to be black, or to be master. If it had

been derived from 77, it would have been pointed or

7. The Mehestani named one of the evil spirits SHED; but it was at length changed into light by Ormuz, i. e. made a good spirit, and was confined to the planet Venus, Zend Avesta, P. III. Bun-Dehesh p. 66. It might be said, if any one chose to take that ground, that the persons, who introduced the present system of punctuation into the Hebrew text, pointed the word, in reference

; שַׁדִּים or שְׁדִּים instead of שֶׁדָם,to the SuED of the Mehestani

or that the Mehestani, in the recent book of Bun-Dehesh, had borrowed the name from the Hebrew. The Syriac word appears to be adopted from the Hebrew.

II. NEBO, i, Is. 46: 1, a deity of Babylon, worshipped by the

$415. OF OTHER DEITIES.

Chaldeans properly so called, the name of which is found in the first syllable of the proper Chaldaic word NEBUCHADNEZZAR. Perhaps the term may be explained by a comparison of the Slavonian word NEBO heaven; since the last syllable of the word

Tszar, is still found in the Russian language.

III. GAD and MENI, and Is. 65: 11. The Hebrews set tables in honour of these deities, and furnished them with food and beverage. Jerome, in his remarks on the passage here quoted, observes, that it was the custom so late as his time in all cities, especially in Egypt, to set tables, and furnish them with various luxurious articles of food, and with goblets containing a mixture of new wine, on the last day of the month and of the year, and that the people drew omens from them in respect to the fruitfulness of the year; but in honour of what god these things were done, he does not state. Perhaps is the goddess of fortune, for this word in the Syriac dialect means fortune, and " is fate, from, to number, to define, or perhaps the idol known under the Arabic word clio which was formerly worshipped by the tribes Hudeil and Choraa between Mecca and Medina, Golius' Arabic Lexicon, col. 2270.

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IV. RIMMON, 7, an idol of the Assyrians, 2 K. 5: 18. perhaps the tutelary deity of pomegranates; NISROC, 72, a god of the Assyrians, 2 K. 19: 37. Is. 37: 38; and the deities of the colonies sent by the king of Assyria into Samaria, viz. NERGAL 2, ASHIMA, 272, NIBCHAZ, 1723, and TARTAK, p♫♫, 2 K. 17: 30, 31, are altogether unknown.

V. NANAEA, varaia, otherwise called ANAIS, ANAITIS, ANEITIS, and TANAIS, a goddess, to whom a very splendid temple was consecrated in Elymais, 2 Macc. 1: 13, 14. comp. 1 Macc. 6: 1,2. The worship, rendered by the Mehestani to this goddess, was the prostitution of virgins; so that she seems to have agreed in character very much with the Babylonish deity MYLLITTA, in whose honour every woman of Babylon was bound once during her life, to commit prostitution, Herodot. I. 199. comp. Strabo. p. 512, 532, 533, 559.

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INDEX

OF PASSAGES ILLUSTRATED, OR ALLUDED TO, IN THIS WORK.

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