View source for Dagon

{{from wikipedia}}
{{infobox demon
|name=Dagon
|title=The Great Fish
|sigil=Dagon.svg
|gender=Male
}}

'''Dagon''' ({{lang-phn|𐤃𐤂𐤍|Dāgūn}}; {{lang-he|דָּגוֹן}}, <small>[[w:Tiberian Hebrew|Tib.]]</small> /dɔːgon/) or '''Dagan''' ({{lang-sux|2=<sup>[[w:dingir|d]]</sup>da-gan|𒀭𒁕𒃶}}<ref>[http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?searchword=l=da-gan%20t=DN&charenc=gcirc The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature]</ref>) is an [[List of Mesopotamian deities|ancient Mesopotamian]] and [[ancient Canaanite religion|ancient Canaanite]] deity. He appears to have been worshipped as a [[List of fertility deities|fertility god]] in [[w:Ebla|Ebla]], [[w:Assyria|Assyria]], [[w:Ugarit|Ugarit]] and, among the [[w:Amorites|Amorites]].

The [[Hebrew Bible]] mentions him as the national god of the [[w:Philistines|Philistines]] with  temples at [[w:Ashdod|Ashdod]] and elsewhere in [[w:Gaza City|Gaza]].<ref>''Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges'' on Judges 16:23.</ref>

A long-standing association with a [[w:Canaanite languages|Canaanite]] word for "fish" (as in {{lang-he|דג}}, [[w:Tiberian Hebrew|Tib.]] {{IPA|/dɔːg/}}), perhaps going back to the [[w:History of the ancient Levant#Iron Age|Iron Age]], has led to an interpretation as a "fish-god", and the association of "[[merman]]" motifs in Assyrian art (such as the "Dagon" relief found by [[w:Austen Henry Layard|Austen Henry Layard]] in the 1840s). The god's name was, however, more likely derived from a word for "grain", suggesting that he was in origin associated with fertility and [[List of agricultural gods|agriculture]].

=={{anchor|Etymology}} Name ==
The name is recorded as [[w:Ugaritic|Ugaritic]] {{transl|uga|Dgn}} ({{transl|uga|Dagnu}} or {{transl|uga|Daganu}}), [[w:Akkadian language|Akkadian]] {{transl|akk|Dagana}}.

In Ugaritic, the root {{transl|uga|dgn}} also means "grain": in Hebrew, {{lang-he|label=none|דגן|dɔːgɔːn}} ([[Samaritan Hebrew]] {{transl|smp|dīgan}}), is an archaic word for grain.

According to [[w:Philo of Byblos|Philo of Byblos]], the Phoenician author [[w:Sanchuniathon|Sanchuniathon]] explained ''Dagon'' as a word for "grain" ({{transl|phn|siton}}). Sanchuniathon further explains: "And Dagon, after he discovered grain and the plough, was called [[Zeus]] Arotrios." The word {{transl|phn|arotrios}} means "ploughman" or "pertaining to agriculture" (from {{lang-phn|label=none|ἄροτρον||plow}}).

The theory relating the name to the Hebrew word "fish", based solely upon a reading of 1&nbsp;Samuel 5:2–7, is discussed in {{section link||Fish-god tradition}} below.

== Ancient Near East ==
===Bronze Age===
The god Dagon first appears in extant records about 2500 <small>BC</small> in the [[w:Mari, Syria|Mari]] texts and in personal [[w:Amorite|Amorite]] names in which the [[Mesopotamian gods]] Ilu ([[El (god)|Ēl]]), Dagan, and [[Adad]] are especially common.

At [[w:Ebla|Ebla]] (Tell Mardikh), from at least 2300&nbsp;<small>BC</small>, Dagan was the head of the city [[wiktionary:pantheon|pantheon]] comprising some 200 deities and bore the titles ''BE-[[w:DINGIR|DINGIR]]-[[w:DINGIR|DINGIR]]'', "Lord of the gods" and ''Bekalam'', "Lord of the land". 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]]". He was called lord of many cities: of [[w:Tuttul|Tuttul]], Irim, Ma-Ne, Zarad, Uguash, Siwad, and Sipishu.

Dagan is mentioned occasionally in early [[w:Sumerian language|Sumerian]] texts but becomes prominent only in later [[w:Assyro-Babylonian|Assyro-Babylonian]] inscriptions as a powerful and warlike protector, sometimes equated with [[Enki]]. Dagan's wife was in some sources the goddess [[Shala]] (also named as wife of [[Adad]] and sometimes identified with [[Ninmah]]). In other texts, his wife is [[Ishara]]. In the preface to his famous [[w:Code of Hammurabi|law code]], King [[w:Hammurabi|Hammurabi]] calls himself "the subduer of the settlements along the [[w:Euphrates|Euphrates]] with the help of Dagan, his creator". 
An inscription about an expedition of Naram-Sin to the Cedar Mountain relates (''ANET'', p.&nbsp;268): "[[w:Naram-Sin of Akkad|Naram-Sin]] slew Arman and Ibla with the 'weapon' of the god Dagan who aggrandizes his kingdom."

An interesting early reference to Dagan occurs in a letter to King [[w:Zimri-Lim|Zimri-Lim]] of Mari, 18th century <small>BC</small>, written by Itur-Asduu an official in the court of Mari and governor of Nahur (the Biblical city of Nahor) (''ANET'', p.&nbsp;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 [[w:Terqa|Terqa]]. 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 [[w:Ugarit|Ugarit]] around 1300 <small>BC</small>, Dagon had a large temple and was listed third in the pantheon following a father-god and Ēl, and preceding [[Baal|Baīl]] Ṣapān (that is the god Haddu or [[Hadad]]/Adad). [[w:Joseph Fontenrose|Joseph Fontenrose]] first demonstrated that, whatever their deep origins, at Ugarit Dagon was sometime identified with El,<ref>Joseph Fontenrose, "Dagon and El" ''Oriens'' '''10'''.2 (December 1957), pp. 277-279.</ref> explaining why Dagan, who had an important temple at Ugarit is so neglected in the [[w:Ras Shamra|Ras Shamra]] mythological texts, where Dagon is mentioned solely in passing as the father of the god [[Hadad]] (Ba'al), but [[Anat]], El's daughter, is Ba'al's sister, and why no temple of El has appeared at Ugarit. It is suspected that Dagon was one of the "seventy sons of El and Athirat" that later sired [[Hadad]] (Ba'al) who would eventually attempt to forcefully insert himself in the second-tier of the council of El (although he would ultimately fail in this attempt)

''Dagan'' was sometimes used in Mesopotamian royal names. Two kings of the pre-Babylonian Dynasty of [[Isin]] were [[w:Iddin-Dagan|Iddin-Dagan]] (c. 1974–1954 <small>BC</small>) and [[w:Ishme-Dagan|Ishme-Dagan]] (c. 1953–1935 <small>BC</small>). The latter name was later used by two [[Assyria]]n kings: [[w:Ishme-Dagan I|Ishme-Dagan I]] (c. 1782–1742 <small>BC</small>) and [[w:Ishme-Dagan II|Ishme-Dagan II]] (c. 1610–1594 <small>BC</small>).

===Iron Age===
The [[w:Stela|stele]] of the 9th century BC Assyrian emperor [[w:Ashurnasirpal II|Ashurnasirpal II]] (''ANET'', p.&nbsp;558) refers to Ashurnasirpal as the favorite of [[An (mythology)|Anu]] and of Dagan. In an [[w:Assyria|Assyria]]n poem, Dagan appears beside [[Nergal]] and [[Misharu]] as a judge of the dead. A late Babylonian text makes him the [[underworld]] prison warder of the seven children of the god Emmesharra.

The Phoenician inscription on the sarcophagus of King Eshmunʿazar of [[w:Sidon|Sidon]] (5th century BC) relates (''ANET'', p.&nbsp;662): "Furthermore, the Lord of Kings gave us Dor and [[w:Jaffa, Israel|Joppa]], the mighty lands of Dagon, which are in the Plain of [[w:Sharon, Israel|Sharon]], in accordance with the important deeds which I did."

[[Sanchuniathon]] reportedly made Dagon the brother of  [[Cronus]], both sons of the Sky ([[Uranus (god)|Uranus]]) and Earth, but not truly Hadad's father. Hadad (Demarus) 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]]'' lists Dagon as the Phoenician Cronus.<ref>Fontenrose 1957:277.</ref>

== Hebrew Bible ==
[[File:Fall of Dagon.gif|thumb|240px|Depiction of the destruction of Dagon by [[Philip James de Loutherbourg]], 1793.]]
In the [[Hebrew Bible]], Dagon is particularly the god of the [[w:Philistine|Philistine]]s with temples at Beth-dagon in the [[w:tribe of Asher|tribe of Asher]] ([[Book of Joshua|Joshua]] 19.27), in [[w:Gaza City|Gaza]] ([[Book of Judges|Judges]] 16.23, which tells soon after how the temple is destroyed by [[Samson]] as his last act). Another temple, located in [[w:Ashdod|Ashdod]], was mentioned in [[Books of Samuel|1 Samuel]] 5:2–7 and again as late as [[1 Maccabees]] 10.83;11.4. [[Saul|King Saul's]] head was displayed in a temple of Dagon.<ref>({{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|10:8-10|NIV}})</ref> There was also a second place known as Beth-Dagon in [[w:Tribe of Judah|Judah]] (Joshua 15.41). The first-century Jewish historian [[w:Josephus|Josephus]]<ref>''Antiquities'' 12.8.1; ''War'' 1.2.3</ref> mentions a place named Dagon above [[w:Jericho|Jericho]]. [[w:Jerome|Jerome]] mentions Caferdago between [[w:Lod|Diospolis]] and Jamnia. There is also a modern Beit Dejan south-east of [[w:Nablus|Nablus]]. Some of these toponyms may have to do with grain rather than the god.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

The account in 1&nbsp;Samuel 5.2–7 relates how the [[Ark of the Covenant]] was [[w:Philistine captivity of the Ark|captured by the Philistines]] and taken to Dagon's temple in Ashdod. The following morning the Ashdodites 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 [[w:Septuagint|Septuagint]], [[w:Peshitta|Peshitta]], and [[w:Targum|Targum]]s render "Dagon" here as "trunk of Dagon" or "body of Dagon", presumably referring to the lower part of his image.)

Thereafter we are told that neither the priests nor anyone ever steps on the ''miptān'' of Dagon in Ashdod "unto this day". "We have remarkable evidence of the permanence of the custom in {{bibleverse||Zephaniah|1:9|NKJV}}, where the Philistines are described as 'those that leap on, or more correctly over, 'the threshold'".<ref>[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/1_samuel/5.htm Pulpit Commentary on 1 Samuel 5], accessed 24 April 2017.</ref> 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]].

== Marnas ==
The ''[[Hagiography|vita]]'' of [[w:Porphyry of Gaza|Porphyry of Gaza]], mentions the great god of Gaza, known as Marnas ([[w:Aramaic language|Aramaic]] ''Marnā'' the "Lord"), who was regarded as the god of rain and grain and invoked against famine. Marna of Gaza appears on coinage of the time of [[w:Hadrian|Hadrian]].<ref>R.A. Stewart Macalister, ''The Philistines'' (London) 1914, p. 112 (illus.).</ref> 
He was identified at Gaza with [[Zeus|Cretan Zeus, ''Zeus Krētagenēs'']]. It is likely that Marnas was the Hellenistic expression of Dagon. His temple, the [[w:Marneion|Marneion]]—the last surviving great cult center of paganism—was [[w:Porphyry of Gaza|burned by order of the Roman emperor]] during the [[w:Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire|Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire]] in 402. Treading upon the sanctuary's paving-stones had been forbidden. Christians later used these same to pave the public marketplace.

== Fish-god tradition ==
[[File:Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia e6 915-0.jpg|thumb|"Oannes" relief from [[Khorsabad]] ]]

The "fish" etymology was accepted in 19th and early 20th century scholarship. This led to the association with the "[[merman]]" motif in [[w:Assyria|Assyria]]n and [[w:Phoenicia|Phoenicia]]n art (e.g. [[w:Julius Wellhausen|Julius Wellhausen]], [[w:William Robertson Smith|William Robertson Smith]]),{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} and with the figure of the Babylonian ''[[Oannes (mythology)|Oannes]]'' (Ὡάννης) mentioned by [[w:Berossus|Berossus]] (3rd century BC).
 
The first to cast doubt on the "fish" etymology was Schmökel (1928), who suggested that while Dagon was not in origin a "fish god", the association with ''dâg'' "fish" among the maritime Canaanites (Phoenicians) would have affected the god's iconography.<ref>H. Schmökel, ''Der Gott Dagan'' (Borna-Leipzig) 1928.</ref> Fontenrose (1957:278)  still suggests that Berossos's ''Odakon'', part man and part fish, was possibly a garbled version of Dagon.  Dagon was also equated with Oannes.
 
The association with ''dāg''/''dâg'' 'fish' is made by 11th-century  Jewish Bible commentator [[w:Rashi|Rashi]].<ref>Rashi's commentary on 1 Samuel 5:2</ref>  In the 13th century, [[w:David Kimhi|David Kimhi]] interpreted the odd sentence in 1&nbsp;Samuel 5.2–7 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 [[w:Septuagint|Septuagint]] text of 1&nbsp;Samuel 5.2–7 says that both the hands ''and the head'' of the image of Dagon were broken off.<ref>Noticed by Schmökel 1928, noted in Fontenrose 1957:278.</ref>

== Notes ==
<references/>

== References ==
* ''ANET'' = ''Ancient Near Eastern Texts'', 3rd ed. with Supplement (1969). Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-03503-2}}.
* Souvay, C., [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04602c.htm Dagon], ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1908)
* "Dagon" in [http://www.cwru.edu/univlib/preserve/Etana/encyl_biblica_a-d/dabareh-david.pdf  Etana: ''Encyclopædia Biblica'' 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.&nbsp;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}}.
* Singer, I. (1992). "Towards an Image of Dagan, the God of the Philistines." ''Syria'' 69: 431-450.
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Dagon|volume=7}}

==External links==
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/149618/Dagan Britannica Online Encyclopedia]
* [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/dagan/ Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses]
* [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4849-dagon Jewish Encyclopedia: Dagon]

[[Category:Deities]]
[[Category:Spirits in the Standard Set]]