DAGON, THE NATIONAL GOD OF THE PHILISTINES
Dagon was represented with the face and hands of a man and the tail of
a fish (1 Samuel v. 4). Various kinds of fish were objects of general
worship among the Egyptians.
The worship of Dagon did not exclude that of other Baals (2 Kings i. 2,
3). He was eminently the god of agriculture (1 Samuel vi. 4, 5).
The most famous temples of Dagon were at Gaza (Judges xvi. 21, 30) and
Ashdod (1 Samuel v. 5, 6). This latter temple was of pre-Maccabean
construction, and was destroyed by Jonathan, the brother of Judas
the Maccabee (c. 148 B.C.) during the Maccabean wars (1 Maccabees x.
84).[38]
In connection with the history of Samson at Gaza, Mr. R. A.
Stewart-Macalister, 1905, explains the architectural character of
the Gaza Temple of Dagon. It must have consisted essentially of
three members: the cella itself; a very deep distyle portico, and a
forecourt, open to the sky. What seems to have happened was this: the
blind prisoner was conducted to the forecourt, whence he could be seen
by the Philistine grandees, who sat in the shade of the portico (cf.
verse 30, "the house fell _upon_ the Lords"), as well as by the large
crowd of commoners assembled on the roof. By tricks of strength and
buffoonery he was compelled to give them amusement, after which he was
allowed to rest awhile, probably in order that he might have strength
to continue the sport. He was set to rest between the pillars, which
was the nearest place where he could be shaded from the sun's heat
while resting. Taking the opportunity, he put forth his full strength,
and before the lords of the Philistines realised what he was doing, he
was able slightly to displace the posts holding up the portico, but
sufficiently to cause them to fall under the weight of the roof.[39]
Colonel Conder remarks it is often denied that the name Dagon applies
to the Babylonian and Phœnician deity represented as a merman, with
the head and body of a bearded man, and the tail of a fish; because in
Semitic speech _Dagon_ signifies "Corn." It is, however, recognised
that Dagon is the same god, called _Da-gan_ in the Akkadian Chronicle
of the first dynasty of Babylon; and in Akkadian _Da_ signifies "the
upper part of a man," while _gan_ may be compared with Turkish _kan_
for a large fish. Dagon would thus be the same as Oannes (u-khana,
"lord of the fish"), a form of the sea-god Ea, who was a man with fish
tail. He is represented not only on Assyrian bas-reliefs, but on a seal
found near Ashdod in 1875. When the statue of Dagon was broken only
the "fishy part" (dagon) was left. In the Laws of Ammurabi, Dagon is
invoked as the deity of regions near the Euphrates, apparently as a
water-god.[40]
Prof. Sayce and others now insist that Dagon was not a _fish_-god. The
name and worship of Dagon were imported into Philistia from Babylonia.
FOOTNOTES:
[38] Josephus, _Antiquities of the Jews_, Chap. XIII. pp. 4, 5. For a
complete list of idolatrous observances mentioned in the Old Testament
the reader is referred to _The Cambridge Companion to the Bible_, pp.
421-5, 1905.
[39] Twelfth Quarterly Report on the Excavation of Gezer, p. 196. P. E.
F.
[40] _Quarterly Statement_ P. E. F., Oct. 1909, p. 274.