Honouring the gods in the classical Mediterranean realm and on its fringes

Eshmun: legend, name ant attributes

According to the legend recorded by Philo of Byblos[1], Eshmun was born somewhere near modern day Beirut, of the union between Sydyk[2] and a Kotharat[3]. A most handsome youth with a passion for hunting, he often visited the wooded valleys spread about the Sidon region. Astarte fell madly in love with him but, in his determination to remain chaste, he mutilated himself to death with an axe. Distraught, she brought him back to life by dint of her life-giving warmth, making him the god of fertility and healing.

Most theophoric names[4] including that of Eshmun imply attributes often found in Semitic divinities, namely protection, care and mercy. The name Eshmun is first mentioned in 1380 and 1180 BC with the meaning of “healer”: « He bound up wounds, healed by means of medicinal plants, prescribing a psychic approach to serious illnesses asserting that it was possible to cure disorders by directing the passions in a proper way » (quoted by R. Khoury). In the middle of the 8th century BC, he came associated to Melqart[5] in a treaty between Assurnirari V[6] and Mati'el[7] king of Arpad. In 674, Melqart/Eshmun were the guarantors of a treaty between Assyria and Tyre: they were called upon to displace Tyre's people, to deprive them of food, clothing and oil should the king of Tyre fail to honour his commitments to the king of Assyria Esarhaddon[8]. The etymology of Eshmun's name remains unclear: it may have been a variation on shem, meaning the name, or perhaps an epithet meaning lord, like Baal. According to Damascius[9], Esmunus emanates from a sense of vital warmth or it may have meant “the eighth” of Sydyk's children. Each of the seven children had a day of the week; on the eighth day, Eshmun healed and cared for the sick. A 3rd century AD coin shows on one side the eight around the engraved word for a galley and on the other Eshmun naked between two snakes. Still, his name could also be owed to the word šmn (oil) meaning “the anointer”, he who heals. Lastly, it may be connected to the later Arabic term samana/sumun meaning quail: A myth tells how Melqart was killed in Lybia by Typhon[10] but Iolaus[11], his companion brought him back to life by making him smell the fumes of a roast quail.

Bronze coin. Eshmun (the eight Cabiri sitting in a circle. Reverse: Eshmun standing between two snakes. Minted in Beirut, 3rd century AD)InformationsInformations[12]

Besides Melqart, Eshmun is associated to Adonis[13] of Byblos who likewise is a god who experienced death and re-birth. Towards the end of the 4th century BC, he was also identified to the Greek god Asklepios[14] as coins found in Acre show, then to his Roman persona under the Republic and to all healing gods having a serpent as an attribute. Evidence of his cult goes back to 677 BC, before that of Asklepios. Unlike him, Eshmun is often represented as a youthful god. His insuperable beauty is epitomised in the following features: he is beardless, effeminate and youthful. A syncretism also associates Eshmun to Apollo[15], both being healers, pastors and claiming the snake for an attribute.

The cult of Eshmun was celebrated in Palestine, Egypt and Cyprus. The temple dedicated to him in Carthage is the most famous and the most beautiful of them all. Built on the Acropolis of Byrsa, it also housed in its precinct the meetings of the Senate. Eshmun, originally a chtonic god[16] was a hunting god who protected and watched over his followers. He defended farmers and shepherds against fierce and wild beasts and kept mortals from disease-bearing evil spirits and demons. Near the Sidon temple a gold sheet has been discovered showing three figures: Eshmun, Hygieia[17] and Telesphorus[18], Eshmun wears a diadem and holds in his right hand a stick with a snake coiled around it. Hygieia carries a snake drinking from a cup; between them a boy presides over the cure. Likewise, coins from Beirut show Eshmun standing between two snakes, now the Phoenicians did use some tamed snakes for some treatment. This symbol, which would pass to Asklepios, was to become in time the caduceus of medical practitioners. God of fertility, Eshmun also symbolises the seasons' cycle: what dies and comes back to life every year. The Phoenicians celebrated, at the onset of every spring, his suffering, death and re-birth.

  1. Philo of Byblos (cc 65-140 AD)

    An antiquarian writer of grammatical, lexical and historical works in Greek. He is chiefly known for his Phoenician History some fragment of which survived.

  2. Sydyk

    Secondary divinity representing mighty and pure justice.

  3. Kotharat / Kotharot / Kathirat

    Name given collectively to the seven daughters of Astarte/Ashtart and El. They are the gods' midwives and wet nurses, the deliverers of Phoenicia, and known in Greek as the Titanides or Artemides.

  4. Theophoric

    Etymologically, the word combines theo, meaning “god” with phore, the idea of “bearing”. A theophoric name refers to a noun made up from the name of a god.

  5. Melqart (properly Milk-qart)

    Tutelary god (baal) of Tyre, founder of the city and protector of its economic activity. His name means “king (milk/melek) of the city (qart)”. He was the god of prosperity, of industry and of seafaring. He answered for men's survival ensuring a supply of food, clothing and oil. Every year, his re-birth was celebrated. He is in the image of the sun. Every year the priests erected a huge pyre and made an eagle to take flight in his honour, the eagle being a symbol of the fresh start of a new year. The cult of Melqart was celebrated not only in Tyre but also in all Phoenician colonies. In the Greek-Roman world, he is identified to Heracles/Hercules.

  6. Assurnirari V

    King of Assyria from 755 to 745 BC.

  7. Mati'el

    Son of Atarsamak, Aramaic king of Arpad.

  8. Esarhaddon

    King of Assyria from 680 to 669 BC. His name Aššur-ahhe-iddina means “Ashur has given a brother to me”. Son of Sennacherib, he re-built Babylon which had been destroyed by his father and adopted a policy of appeasement towards the city's people. He had himself called “governor of Babylon”, like his grand-father Sargon II. He pushed the limits of his empire to the northern banks of Egypt.

  9. Damascius (c. 470- c. 544 AD)

    Known as “the last of the Neoplatonists”, he was last to lead the School of Athens. He represented a fresh attitude ready to question dogma.

  10. Typhon

    The monstrous son of Tatarus and Gaia (or Hera). Half-human half-wild beast, he is covered with wings, his eyes spit fire, his head brushes the stars and, outstretched, his arms reach East and West. His arms are terminated with hundreds of dragons' heads. Vipers slither around the bottom of his body.

  11. Iolaus

    Son of Iphicles and Automedusa, he was Heracles' nephew and his faithful companion. He drove his chariot and helped him in several deeds such as the Lernaean Hydra, the Erymanthian Boar and the Cattle of Geryon as well as in the Argonauts expedition. After his death the gods allowed him to return to earth for an hour only in order to rescue Heracles's children from danger.

  12. Bronze coin. Eshmun (the eight Cabiri sitting in a circle. Reverse: Eshmun standing between two snakes. Minted in Beirut, 3rd century AD. Nina Jidedian Jidejian, Nina. 1971. Sidon through the Ages. Dar el-Machreq Publishers, Beirut.

  13. Adonis

    Adon means “master”. Adonis was a Phoenician god and the tutelary divinity of Byblos. His cult was upheld in the classical world. Adonis was the god of vegetation and rebirth. Born of Myrrha (a godess changed into a tree to protect her from the vengeful father she had tricked into the pregnancy), Adon was adopted by Aphrodite who entrusted him to Persephone, the presiding goddess of the underworld. In love with him, the latter refused to return him. Adjudicating the case, Zeus allotted his ward for 4 months each to Persephone and Aphrodite, leaving him to choose whom to spend the remaining time with (in the event, Aphrodite). He was killed by a boar whilst hunting. Red roses and red anemones are associated to his death and Aphrodite's desolation. Adonis reflects nature's cycle with its four month sleep before returning to life. Venus and Adonis' love story has inspired many artists.

  14. Asclepius

    God of classical Greece. He was venerated at Epidaurus were his cult was extent in the 6th century BC. Weaving heroic and divine strands, the healing hero, became the god of health and medicine. Son of Apollo and Coronis the daughter of Phlegyas king of Thessaly, who, whilst pregnant, had an affair with Ischys, the son of Elatus. Before killing her for her betrayal, Apollo tore the baby from her bosom and entrusted him to the Centaur Chiron who taught him medicine. He then took over his father's role as a healing god and would seek to bring the dead back to life. Zeus saw such pursuits as liable to upset the order of the universe and, with a thunderbolt, killed him. He fathered three sons Machaon, Podaleirios and Telesphoros and six daughters among whom Hygieia, Panacea and Iaso.

  15. Apollo

    Greek god, son of Leto and Zeus, one of the twelve Olympian deities.

  16. Chthonic god

    An underworld deity.

  17. Hygieia

    Daughter of Asclepius and Epione, she was the goddess of health, cleanliness and hygiene. Her name means health and she embodies preventative health. Her symbol is a cup with a snake twined around it; it will become a much used symbol of pharmacy.

  18. Telesphorus

    The guide to recovery. Telesphorus is Asclepius' third son, always clad in a cape and hood as would people recovering from illness. He is generally found alongside his father and his sister Hygieia.

PrécédentPrécédentSuivantSuivant
AccueilAccueilImprimerImprimer Elsa Ghossoub, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (Lebanon) Paternité - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de ModificationRéalisé avec Scenari (nouvelle fenêtre)