Eshmun: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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| script_name = Phoencian

| script = 𐤀𐤔𐤌𐤍

| gender = maleMale

| temples = [[Temple of Eshmun]] at Bostan el-Sheikh, Sidon

| symbol = Serpent

}}

}}'''Eshmun''' (or '''Eshmoun''', less accurately '''Esmun''' or '''Esmoun'''; {{lang-phn|𐤀𐤔𐤌𐤍}} ''{{transl|sem|ʾšmn}}''; {{lang-akk|𒅀𒋢𒈬𒉡}} ''Yasumunu'') was a [[Phoenicia]]n god of healing and the [[tutelary deity|tutelary god]] of [[Sidon]].▼

{{Fertile Crescent myth (Levantine)}}

{{Middle Eastern deities}}

▲}}'''Eshmun''' (or '''Eshmoun''', less accurately '''Esmun''' or '''Esmoun'''; {{lang-phn|𐤀𐤔𐤌𐤍}} ''{{transltransliteration|sem|ʾšmn}}''; {{lang-akk|𒅀𒋢𒈬𒉡}} ''Yasumunu'') was a [[Phoenicia]]n god of healing and the [[tutelary deity|tutelary god]] of [[Sidon]].

==History==

Eshmun was known at least from the [[Iron Age]] period at [[Sidon]] and was worshipped also in [[Tyre (Lebanon)|Tyre]], [[Beirut]], [[Cyprus]], [[Sardinia]], and in [[Carthage]] where the site of Eshmun's temple is now occupied by the [[acropolium of Carthage]].{{CnSfn|dateLipiński|1995|pp=February 2023160-166}}

According to [[Eusebius of Caesarea]], Phoenician author [[Sanchuniathon]] wrote that [[Sydyk]], 'The Righteous', first fathered seven sons equated with the Greek [[Cabeiri]] or [[Dioscuri]], no mother named, and then afterwards fathered an eighth son by one of the seven Titanides or Artemides. (See [[Kotharat]]). The name ''Eshmun'' appears to mean 'the Eighth'.

The Neo-Platonist [[Damascius]] also stated<ref>Damascius, ''Vita Isidori'' 302:</ref>

{{quoteblockquote|text=The [[Asclepius]] in [[Beirut]] is neither a Greek nor an Egyptian, but some native Phoenician divinity. For to Sadyk were born children who are interpreted as Dioscuri and Cabeiri; and in addition to these was born an eighth son, Esmunus, who is interpreted as Asclepius.}}

[[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]] (''Bibliotheca'' Codex 242) summarizes Damascius as saying further that Asclepius of Beirut was a youth who was fond of hunting. He was seen by the goddess Astronoë (thought by many scholars to be a version of [[Astarte]]) who so harassed him with amorous pursuit that in desperation he [[castration|castrated]] himself and died. Astronoë then named the youth ''Paeon'' 'Healer', restored him to life from the warmth of her body, and changed him into a god.{{Sfn|Cassel|1872|p=26}}{{Sfn|Court de Gébelin|1773|pp=67–68}}

A trilingual inscription of the 2nd century BCE from Sardinia<ref>''KAI.'' 66</ref> also identifies Eshmun with the Greek [[Asclepius]] and the Latin Aesculapius. [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] quotes a Sidonian as saying that the Phoenicians claim [[Apollo]] as the father of Asclepius, as do the Greeks, but unlike them do not make his mother a mortal woman.<ref>Pausanias, 7.23.7&#x2013;87–8</ref> The Sidonian then continued with an allegory which explained that Apollo represented the sun, whose changing path imparts to the air its healthiness which is to be understood as Asclepius. This allegory seems likely a late invention. Also, Apollo is usually equated with the Phoenician plague god [[Resheph]]. This might be a variant version of Eshmun's parentage, or Apollo might also be equated with Sadyk, and Sadyk might be equated with Resheph.

In Cyprus, Eshmun was syncretized with [[Melqart]],{{sfn|Sauer|2018|p=140}}{{sfn|Greenfield|1995|p=433}} and also in [[Ibiza]], as given by a dedication reciting: "to his lord, Eshmun-Melqart".{{sfn|Ogden|2021|p=470}}

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==Worship==

The [[Eshmun Temple|temple toof Eshmun]] is found 1 &nbsp;km from Sidon on the Bostrenus (now called the [[BostrenusAwali River(river)|Awali]], thein modernsouthwestern [[River AwwaliLebanon]]). Building was begun at the end of the 6thsixth century BCE during the reign of [[Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II|Eshmunazar]], II[[King of Sidon]], and later additions were made up into the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] period. It was excavated by Maurice Dunand in 1963-19781963–1978. Many votive offerings were found in the form of statues of persons healed by the god, especially babies and young children.

Also found near the temple was a gold plaque of Eshmun and the goddess [[HygeiaHygieia]] (meaning "Health") showing Eshmun holding a staff in his right hand around which a serpent is entwined. A coin of the 3rd century CE from Beirut shows Eshmun standing between two serpents.

== Place names ==

A village near Beirut named Qabr Shmoun, "Eshmoun's grave," still exists.{{CnSfn|dateLipiński|1995|pp=|p=February 2023160}}

==See also==

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==References==

{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==

*{{citation|last=Greenfield|first=Jonas Carl|year=1995|title= Solving Riddles and Untying Knots: Biblical, Epigraphic, and Semitic Studies in Honor of Jonas C. Greenfield|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VLyUd1hau1IC&dq=to+his+lord+eshmun+melqart&pg=PA433|publisher=Eisenbrauns|isbn= 978-0-931464-93-5}}.

*{{citation|last=Ogden|first=Daniel|year=2021|title= The Oxford Handbook of Heracles|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zy0zEAAAQBAJ&dq=to+his+lord+eshmun+melqart+ibiza&pg=PA470|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn= 9780190650988}}.

*{{citation|last=Sauer|first=A.|year=2018|title= The Archaeology of Jordan and Beyond: Essays in Memory of James A. Sauer|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=st6mDwAAQBAJ&dq=to+his+lord+melqart+eshmun&pg=PA140 |publisher=Brill|isbn= 9789004369801}}.

*{{Cite book |last=Cassel |first=Paulus |url=https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=7tOedtu4uJ8C |title=Esmun. Eine archäologische Untersuchung aus der Geschichte Kenaans ... Mit einem einleitenden Sendschreiben über Studien des Alten Testaments |date=1872 |publisher=Gustav Schlössmann |location=Gotha |language=de |trans-title=Esmun. An archaeological study from the history of Kenaan ... With an introductory missive on Old Testament studies.}}'

*{{Cite book |last=Court de Gébelin |first=Antoine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e-AFv9-HgDQC&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA68&dq=All%C3%A9gories+orientales+esmunus&hlpg=enPA68 |title=Allégories orientales, ou, le fragment de Sanchoniaton, qui contient l'histoire de saturne: suivie de celles de mercure et d'hercule, et de ses douze travaux ... |date=1773 |publisher=chez l'auteur |location=Paris |language=fr |trans-title=Oriental allegories, or, the fragment of Sanchoniaton, which contains the story of Saturn: followed by those of Mercury and Hercules, and his twelve labors. |author-link=Antoine Court de Gébelin}}

*{{Cite book |last=Lipiński |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RKxLnTEqXwIC |title=Dieux et Déesses de l'Univers Phénicien et Punique |date=1995 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-6831-690-2 |location=Leuven |pages=154–168 |language=fr |trans-title=Gods and Goddesses of the Phoenician and Punic Universe |oclc=33211400 |author-link=Edward Lipiński (orientalist)}}

==External links==

* '''Temple of Eshmun near Sidon'''

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20040606075052/http://www.lebmania.com/photos/eshmoun/welcome.htm Lebmania: Eshmoun]

** [http://www.atlastours.net/lebanon/eshmoun.html Atlas Tours: Lebanon: Eshmun]

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20050912200051/http://www.ikamalebanon.com/national_heritage/south_nh/sth_cities_nh/eshmoun.htm Ikama: Eshmoun]

* [http://eshmunit.bterram.com/ Bterram: Eshmunit] (On the temple of Eshmunit in Bterram.)

{{Authority control}}▼

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▲{{Middle Eastern mythology}}{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Eshmun| ]]

[[Category:West Semitic gods]]

[[Category:Tutelary deitiesgods]]

[[Category:Health gods]]

[[Category:Phoenician mythology]]

[[Category:Temple of Eshmun]]

[[Category:Melqart]]