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APhilistine deity. It is commonly admitted that the nameDagon is a diminutive form, hence a term of endearment, derived from the Semitic rootdag, and means, accordingly, "little fish". The name, therefore, indicates a fish-shaped god. This theBible also suggests when speaking of the Dagonworshipped in thetemple ofAzotus (1 Samuel 5:1-7): he had face and hands and a portion of his body resembled that of a fish, in accordance with the most probable interpretation of "the stump of Dagon" (verse 5). From the received text of theSeptuagint it would seem that he possessed even feet, although Swete's edition gives here a different reading; at any rate, this sentence, in the Greek translation, shows all the appearances of agloss. With the description found in theBible coincides that which may be seen on thecoins of variousPhilistine orPhœnician cities, on most of which Dagon is represented as a composite figure,human as to the upper part of the body, fish-like as to the lower. From this it may well be inferred that Dagon was a fish-god, a fact not in the least surprising, as he seems to have been the foremost deity of such maritime cities asAzotus,Gaza (the early sites of which are supposed to be buried under the sand-mounds that run along the sea-shore),Ascalon, and Arvad. In the monuments — also most probably in the popularworship — Dagon is sometimes associated with afemale half-fish deity, Derceto or Atargatis, often identified with Astarte.
A few scholars, however, waving aside these evidences, consider Dagon as the god of agriculture. This opinion they rest on the following statement of Philo Byblius: "Dagon, that is, corn' [theHebrew word for corn isdagan]. "Dagon, after he had discovered corn and the plough, was called Zeus of the plough" (ii, 16). The same writer tells us (inEusebius, Prœp. Evang., i, 6) that, according to an oldPhœnician legend, Dagon was one of the four sons born of themarriage of Anu, the lord ofheaven, with his sister, the earth. Moreover, on a seal bearing certain symbolic signs, among which is an ear of corn, but not, however, the image of a fish, may be read the name of Baal-Dagon, written inPhœnician characters. It is open to question whether these arguments outweigh those in favour of the other opinion; so much so that the etymology adopted by Philo Byblius might possibly be due to a misapprehension of the name. It should, perhaps, be admitted that, along the Mediterranean shore, a twofold conception and representation of Dagon were developed in the course of time as a result of the presumed twofold derivation of the name. At, any rate, all scholars agree that the name andworship of Dagon were imported fromBabylonia.
TheTell-el-Amarna letters (about 1480-1450 B.C.), which have yielded the names of Yamir-Dagan and Dagan-takala, rulers ofAscalon, witness to the antiquity of the Dagon-worship among the inhabitants of Palestine. We learn from theBible that the deity hadtemples atGaza (Judges 16:21, 23) andAzotus (1 Samuel 5:1-7); we may presume that shrines existed likewise in otherPhilistine cities. The Dagon-worship seems even to have extended beyond the confines of their confederacy. The testimony of the monuments is positive for thePhœnician city of Arvad; moreover, theBook of Josue mentions two towns calledBethdagon, one in the territory ofJuda (Joshua 15:41), and the other on the border ofAser (Joshua 19:27);Josephus also speaks of a Dagon "beyondJericho" (Antiq. Jud., XIII, viii, 1; De bell. Jud., I, ii, 3): all these names are earlier than theIsraelite conquest, and, unless we derive them fromdagan, witness to a wide dissemination of theworship of Dagon throughout Palestine. Thisworship was kept up, at least in certainPhilistine cities, until the last centuries B.C. — such was the case atAzotus; thetemple of Dagon that stood there was burned byJonathan Machabeus (1 Maccabees 10:84;11:4).
Unlike theBaals, who, among theChanaanites, were essentially local deities, Dagon seems to have been considered by thePhilistines as a national god (1 Chronicles 10:10). To him they attributed their success inwar; him they thanked by greatsacrifices, before him they rejoiced over the capture ofSamson (Judges 16:23); into histemple they brought the trophies of their victories, theArk (1 Samuel 5:1, 2), the armour, and the head of Saul (1 Samuel 31:9-10;1 Chronicles 10:10). A bronze demi-rilievo ofAssyro-Phœnician workmanship would also suggest that Dagon played a prominent part in the doctrines concerning death and future life. As to the ritual of hisworship, little can be gathered either from the documents or fromScripture. The elaborate arrangements for returning theArk (1 Samuel 5:6) may have been inspired more by the circumstances than by anyceremonies of the Dagon-worship. We only know from ancient writers that, forreligious reasons, most of theSyrian peoplesabstained from eating fish, a practice that one is naturally inclined to connect with theworship of a fish-god.
APA citation.Souvay, C.(1908).Dagon. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04602c.htm
MLA citation.Souvay, Charles."Dagon."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 4.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1908.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04602c.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by David M. Cheney.Dedicated to Ceil Holman (1907-1996), my grandmother.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor.Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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