Editing Melqart (section)

==Archaeological evidence==
[[File:Stela with Melqart on his lion.JPG|thumb|Stela with Melqart on his lion from [[Amrit]] in [[Syria]], c. 550 BC]]
The first occurrence of the name is in the 9th-century BCE the "Ben-Hadad" inscription found in 1939 north of [[Aleppo]] in today's northern [[Syria]]; it had been erected by the son of the king of [[Arameans|Aram]] "for his lord Melqart, which he vowed to him and he heard his voice".<ref>''ANET'' 655, noted in James Maxwell Miller and John Haralson Hayes, ''A History of Ancient Israel and Judah'' (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press) 1986 p. 293f.</ref>

Archaeological evidence for Melqart's cult is found earliest in Tyre and seems to have spread westward with the Phoenician colonies established by Tyre as well as eventually  overshadowing the worship of Eshmun in [[Sidon]].  The name of Melqart was invoked in oaths sanctioning contracts, according to Dr. [[María Eugenia Aubet]],<ref>[[María Eugenia Aubet]], ''The Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies and Trade,'' 2nd ed., 2001.</ref> thus it was customary to build a temple to Melqart, as protector of Tyrian traders, in each new Phoenician colony: at [[Cádiz]], the temple to Melqart is as early as the earliest vestiges of Phoenician occupation. (The Greeks followed a parallel practice in respect to Heracles.) [[Carthage]] even sent a yearly tribute of 10% of the public treasury to the god in Tyre up until the [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic period]].

In Tyre, the high priest of Melqart ranked second only to the king. Many names in Carthage reflected this importance of Melqart, for example, the names [[Hamilcar]] and Bomilcar; but ''Ba‘l'' "Lord" as a name-element in Carthaginian names such as Hasdrubal and [[Hannibal]] almost certainly does not refer to Melqart but instead refers to [[Baal Hammon|Ba`al Hammon]], chief god of Carthage, a god identified by Greeks with [[Cronus]] and by Romans with [[Saturn (mythology)|Saturn]], or is simply used as a title.

Melqart protected the [[Punics|Punic]] areas of [[Sicily]], such as [[Cefalù]], which was known under Carthaginian rule as "Cape Melqart" ({{langx|xpu|𐤓‬𐤔 𐤌𐤋‬𐤒𐤓‬𐤕}}, {{sc|rš mlqrt}}).{{sfnp|Head & al.|1911|p=877}} Melqart's head, indistinguishable from a Heracles, appeared on its coins of the 4th century BCE.

The [[Cippi of Melqart]], found on [[Malta]] and dedicated to the god as an [[ex voto]] offering, provided the key to understanding the [[Phoenician language]], as the inscriptions on the cippi were written in both Phoenician and [[Greek language|Greek]].<ref name="louvre">{{cite web|url=http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/detail_notice.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673225322&CURRENT_LLV_NOTICE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673225322&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500787&bmLocale=en|title= Cippus from Malta|year=2009|publisher=Louvre.com|access-date=February 16, 2011}}</ref>

===Temple sites===
[[Image:Estatuillas votivas del templo de Hércules Gaditano.jpg|thumb|Votive statues from the Temple of Melqart in [[Cadiz]]]]
{{See also|Temple of Hercules Gaditanus}}
Temples to Melqart are found at at least three Phoenician/Punic sites in Spain: Cádiz, Ibiza in the [[Balearic Islands]] and Cartagena. Near Gades/Gádeira (modern [[Cádiz]]) was the westernmost temple of Tyrian Heracles, near the eastern shore of the island ([[Strabo]] 3.5.2&ndash;3). Strabo notes (3.5.5&ndash;6) that the two bronze pillars within the temple, each 8 cubits high, were widely proclaimed to be the true [[Pillars of Heracles]] by many who had visited the place and had sacrificed to Heracles there. Strabo believes the account to be fraudulent, in part noting that the inscriptions on those pillars mentioned nothing about Heracles, speaking only of the expenses incurred by the Phoenicians in their making.

Another temple to Melqart was at Ebyssus ([[Ibiza]]), in one of four Phoenician sites on the island's south coast. In 2004 a highway crew in the Avinguda Espanya, (one of the main routes into Ibiza), uncovered a further Punic temple in the excavated roadbed. Texts found mention Melqart among other Punic gods Eshmun, Astarte and Baʻl.

Another Iberian temple to Melqart has been identified at [[Carthago Nova]] ([[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]]). The Tyrian god's protection extended to the sacred promontory ([[Cape Saint Vincent]]) of the Iberian peninsula, the westernmost point of the known world, ground so sacred it was forbidden even to spend the night.

Another temple to Melqart was at [[Lixus (ancient city)|Lixus]], on the Atlantic coast of [[Morocco]].