Editing Melqart (section)

==Cult==

Melqart was possibly the [[Ba‘al]] found in the [[Hebrew Bible]], specifically in [[1 Kings 16]]:31&ndash;10.26) whose worship was prominently introduced to [[Israel]] by King [[Ahab]] and largely eradicated by King [[Jehu]].{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} In [[1 Kings 18]]:27, it is possible that there is a mocking reference to legendary Heraclean journeys made by the god and to the annual ''egersis'' ({{langx|grc|ἔγερσις||awakening, resurrection}}) of the god: "And it came to pass at noon that [[Elijah]] mocked them and said, 'Cry out loud: for he is a god; either he is lost in thought, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.'"

The Phoenician<ref name="Cambridge 136">{{cite book|title=The Cambridge History of Classical Literature|volume=1, part 4|year=1993|orig-year=1985|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vx2gJyWxrtMC|isbn=0521359848|page=136 |last1=Easterling |first1=P. E. |author1-link=P. E. Easterling |last2=Knox |first2=B. M. W. |author2-link=Bernard Knox |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref> novelist, [[Heliodorus of Emesa]], in his ''[[Aethiopica]],'' refers to the [[dancing]] of sailors in honor of the Tyrian Heracles: "Now they leap spiritedly into the air, now they bend their knees to the ground and revolve on them like persons possessed."

The historian [[Herodotus]] recorded (2.44):
{{blockquote|In the wish to get the best information that I could on these matters, I made a voyage to Tyre in Phoenicia, hearing there was a temple of Heracles at that place, very highly venerated. I visited the temple, and found it richly adorned with a number of offerings, among which were two pillars, one of pure gold, the other of ''[[Emerald|smaragdos]]'', shining with great brilliance at night. In a conversation which I held with the priests, I inquired how long their temple had been built, and found by their answer that they, too, differed from the Hellenes. They said that the temple was built at the same time that the city was founded, and that the foundation of the city took place 2,300 years ago. In Tyre I remarked another temple where the same god was worshipped as the Thasian Heracles. So I went on to [[Thasos]], where I found a temple of Heracles which had been built by the Phoenicians who colonised that island when they sailed in search of [[Europa (mythology)|Europa]]. Even this was five generations earlier than the time when Heracles, son of [[Amphitryon]], was born in [[Ancient Greece|Hellas]]. These researches show plainly that there is an ancient god Heracles; and my own opinion is that those Hellenes act most wisely who build and maintain two temples of Heracles, in the one of which the Heracles worshipped is known by the name of [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian]], and has sacrifice offered to him as an immortal, while in the other the honours paid are such as are due to a hero.}}

[[Josephus]] records (''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'' 8.5.3), following [[Menander of Ephesus]] the historian, concerning King [[Hiram I]] of Tyre (c. 965&ndash;935&nbsp;BCE):
{{blockquote|He also went and cut down materials of timber out of the mountain called [[Mount Lebanon|Lebanon]], for the roof of temples; and when he had pulled down the ancient temples, he both built the temple of Heracles and that of [[`Ashtart]]; and he was the first to celebrate the awakening (''egersis'') of Heracles in the month Peritius.<ref>[[William Whiston]]'s translation incorrectly has "first set up the temple of Heracles in ..".</ref>}}

The annual celebration of the revival of Melqart's "awakening" may identify Melqart as a [[dying-and-rising god]].

Melqart played the central role in the Phoenician spring festival during which he died and was resurrected.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ginge |first1=Birgitte |last2=Thurton |first2=Mary |last3=Aubet |first3=Maria Eugenia |last4=Ridgway |first4=David |date=1996 |title=The Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies, and Trade |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/4351841 |journal=The Classical World |volume=89 |issue=5 |pages=427 |doi=10.2307/4351841 |jstor=4351841 |issn=0009-8418}}</ref>

The Roman Emperor [[Septimius Severus]] was a native of [[Lepcis Magna]] in Africa, an originally Phoenician city where worship of Melqart was widespread. He is known to have constructed in Rome a temple dedicated to "[[Liber]] and Hercules," and it is assumed that the Emperor, seeking to honour the god of his native city, identified Melqart with the Roman god Liber.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

{{Gallery
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|File:Sacerdote de Cádiz - M.A.N. 02.jpg|Bronze statuette of a priest of Melqart, 7th century BC [[National Archaeological Museum (Madrid)|National Archaeological Museum Madrid]]
|File:Melqart_god_of_the_Phoenician_city_of_Tyre.jpg|Undated bust of Tyrian Melqart, [[National Museum of Denmark]]
|File:Herakles-Melqart, inizi V sec. a.C., da Cipro.JPG|Herakles-Melqart from Cyprus, early 5th century BC
|File:TyrianHalfShekel102-101-BNF-Gallica.jpg|Melkarth on a [[Tyrian shekel]] (102 BC) with an eagle ([[reverse (coin)|reverse]]), one foot on a galley prow, next to the god's club
}}