Dagon began as a Northwest Semitic (Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian) Mesopotamian fertility god and evolved into a major Northwest Semitic god of grain. The grain is thought to represent fertility. In erroneous 19th and 20th century scholarship, Dagon was incorrectly viewed as a god of fish/fishing. Mesopotamian depictions of Oannes or Apkallu were incorrectly believed to represent Dagon. This false idea was likely a medieval invention made by 11th-century Jewish Bible commentator Rashi.
He was worshiped in a large, geographical area, from Mesopotamia to Syria, by the Amorites and the cities of Ebla and Ugarit. He was possibly a major deity in the pantheon of the Philistines. According to the Hebrew Bible, Dagon was the national god of the Philistines, with temples at Ashdod and Gaza, but there is no extrabiblical evidence confirming this. Evidence for Dagon's worship by the Philistines include an inscription of the sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II, dating to the 6th century BC, calls Jaffa, a Philistine city, one of the "mighty lands of Dagon."
His name is related to an archaic Semitic root word for "grain", a further clue to his domain.
Myths & Legends[]
Dagon first appears in the Mari texts around 2500 BC. However, his precise functions are not certain, as he is not well attested in Levantine mythological literature, and rarely in Mesopotamian literature.
Notably, he makes a speech recounting the deeds of Ninurta in the Assyrian myth of Anzu. In other cases, he has an association with the underworld, being said to keep with him the seven children of Enmešarra.
Biblical Appearance[]
Dagon is mentioned in the Old Testament as a major god of the Philistines who loses to the Hebrew God. When the Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant in battle, the place it in Dagon's temple as a symbol of his victory. In the morning, however, Dagon's statue is lying face down on the floor. The people set it up on its feet, and the next morning it is back on the floor, with its head and hands broken off.
Fish God and Mesopotamian Fishman motifs[]
The view of Dagon as a deity of fishermen and a "fish god" in 19th century and early 20th century scholarship is now generally regarded as incorrect. It led to an erroneous association between Dagon and Odakon, a half-fish being mentioned by Berossus, and with "fishman" motifs in Mesopotamian art, in reality depictions of Oannes or Apkallu. The first to cast doubt on the "fish" etymology was Hartmut Schmökel in his 1928 study of Dagon, though he initially nonetheless 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. However, later he correctly identified it as a medieval invention.
Family[]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- 'Dagon' is a name of an active item from the game DOTA 2.
- A god from the Cthulhu Mythos is also named Dagon.