Editing Dagon (section)

== Later relevance ==
According to [[Philo of Byblos]], [[Sanchuniathon]] reportedly made Dagon the brother of [[Cronus]], both sons of the Sky ([[Uranus (god)|Uranus]]) and Earth ([[Gaia]]), but not Hadad's biological 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.{{sfn|Ayali-Darshan|2013|pp=654–655}} The Byzantine ''[[Etymologicon Magnum]]'' lists Dagon as the "Phoenician Cronus."{{sfn|Fontenrose|1957|p=277}}

The first-century Jewish historian [[Josephus]] mentions a place named Dagon above [[Jericho]].<ref>''Antiquities'' 12.8.1; ''War'' 1.2.3</ref> It has however been argued that some of the locations possibly named after Dagon were in reality named after the Canaanite word for grain.{{sfn|Montalbano|1951|p=391}}

=== Jewish and Christian scriptures ===
[[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 referenced three times as the head god of the [[Philistine]]s; however, there are no references to Dagon as a [[Canaanites|Canaanite]] god.{{sfn|Singer|1992|p=432}} According to the Bible, his temples were located at Beth-dagon in the territory of the [[tribe of Asher]] ([[Book of Joshua|Joshua]] 19.27), and in [[Gaza City|Gaza]] (see [[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 [[Ashdod]], was mentioned in [[Books of Samuel|1 Samuel]] 5:2–7 and again as late as [[1 Maccabees]] 10.83 and 11.4. [[Saul|King Saul's]] head was displayed in a temple of Dagon after his death ({{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|10:8-10|NIV}}). There was also a second place known as Beth-Dagon in [[Tribe of Judah|Judah]] (Joshua 15.41).

The account in 1&nbsp;Samuel 5.2–7 relates how the [[Ark of the Covenant]] was [[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 dāgōn nišʾar ʿālāyw'', which means literally "only Dagon was left to him." (The [[Septuagint]], [[Peshitta]], and [[Targum]]s render "Dagon" here as "trunk of Dagon" or "body of Dagon", presumably referring to the lower part of his image.{{sfn|Singer|1992|pp=432–434}}

Dagon is also mentioned in the [[Meqabyan|First Book of Ethiopian Maccabees]] (12:12), which was composed sometime in the 4th century AD.{{sfn|Curtin|2019}}

==== Fish-god interpretation ====
[[File:Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia e6 915-0.jpg|thumb|"[[Apkallu]]" relief from [[Khorsabad]]]]
[[File:Fig39dagon knecht.png|thumb|Relief of a Mesopotamian fishman ([[Kulullû]]) identified in accordance with early 20th century scholarship as Dagan in "[[s:A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture/XLVI. The Judges. — Gedeon. — Samson.|A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture]]" (1910)]]

The "fish" etymology, while late and incorrect,{{sfn|Singer|1992|p=433}} was accepted in 19th and early 20th century scholarship.{{sfn|Montalbano|1951|p=395}} It led to an erroneous association between Dagan and Odakon, a half-fish being mentioned by [[Berossus]], and with "fishman" motifs in Mesopotamian art,{{sfn|Montalbano|1951|p=395}} in reality depictions of [[Kulullû]],{{sfn|Wiggermann|1992|p=182}} an [[apotropaic]] creature associated with the god [[Ea (Babylonian god)|Ea]].{{sfn|Wiggermann|1992|p=183}}

The association with ''dāg''/''dâg'' 'fish' was made by 11th-century Jewish Bible commentator [[Rashi]].<ref>Rashi's commentary on 1 Samuel 5:2</ref> In the 13th century, [[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 [[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.{{sfn|Fontenrose|1957|p=278}}

The first to cast doubt on the "fish" etymology was {{ill|Hartmut Schmökel|de|Hartmut Schmökel}} in his 1928 study of Dagan, 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.{{sfn|Schmökel|1928}} However, later he correctly identified it as a medieval invention.{{sfn|Schmökel|1938|p=101}} Modern researchers not only do not accept it, but even question if Dagan/Dagon was worshiped in coastal areas in any significant capacity at all.{{sfn|Stone|2013}}

=== Dagon and Marnas ===
[[File:Statue of Zeus dsc02611-.jpg|thumb|upright|Colossal seated Marnas from [[Gaza City|Gaza]] portrayed in the style of [[Zeus]]. Roman period Marnas<ref>{{Cite CE1913|wstitle=Gaza}}; [http://www.plekos.uni-muenchen.de/2004/rhahn.html Johannes Hahn: Gewalt und religiöser Konflikt]; [http://philologos.org/__eb-thlatb/chap08.htm#mosue The Holy Land and the Bible]</ref> was the chief divinity of Gaza ([[Istanbul Archaeology Museum]]).]]
In the Classical period, the central temple of Gaza was dedicated to a god named Marnas (from [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] ''marnā,'' "lord").{{sfn|Singer|1992|p=432}} [[Itamar Singer]] considered it a possibility that this name was a title of the hypothetical Philistine Dagon,{{sfn|Singer|1992|pp=432–433}} though he notes he was equated not with a Levantine or Syrian deity but with [[Zeus|Cretan Zeus, ''Zeus Krētagenēs'']].{{sfn|Singer|1992|p=432}} However, [[Gerard Mussies]] considers Marnas and Dagan to be two separate deities.{{sfn|Mussies|1990|p=2443}} According to Taco Terpstra, Marnas' origins are "nebulous,"{{sfn|Terpstra|2019|p=191}} and while his name can be plausibly assumed to be Aramaic, his iconography follows [[Hellenistic art|Hellenistic]] conventions. At times he is shown naked, similar to a naked and bearded Zeus, either seated on a throne or standing while holding a lightning bolt. Other images show him in a form similar to [[Apollo]], holding a bow and standing on a pedestal in front of a female deity. Regardless of the variety of depictions, the abundance of them on coins indicates that the inhabitants of Gaza held him in high esteem and associated this god with their city. Textual sources portray him as a "sky god who also performed oracles."{{sfn|Terpstra|2019|p=182}} An indirect reference to Marnas occurs in an inscription from Roman [[Portus]] from the reign of [[Gordian III]] (238-244 CE), which relays that the city of Gaza honored this ruler "at the prompting of its ancestral god."{{sfn|Terpstra|2019|p=181}}

Marnas is mentioned in the works of the fourth century scholar and theologian Jerome, in several stories from his ''Life of St. [[Hilarion]]'', written around 390 CE, in which he condemns his adherents as idolatrous and as "enemies of God." Violent sentiments against the cult of Marnas and the destruction of his temple in Gaza, the Marneion, are described by [[Mark the Deacon]] in his account of the life of the early fifth-century saint [[Porphyry of Gaza]] (''Vita Porphyri''). After the destruction of Marnas's temple, Mark petitioned the emperor [[Arcadius]] through his wife [[Aelia Eudoxia|Eudoxia]] to grant a request to have all pagan temples in Gaza destroyed.{{sfn|Terpstra|2019|pp=184–185}} Terpstra notes there is no direct evidence for the historicity of this account, as Porphyry is not mentioned by other contemporary authors and is entirely absent from inscriptions. However, it does indeed appear that, in the early fifth century, the temple of Marnas was replaced by a Christian church.{{sfn|Terpstra|2019|pp=185–186}} However, the majority of Gazans were not Christians in the fifth century CE, and likely continued to worship their city's tutelary deity.{{sfn|Terpstra|2019|pp=186-187}}