| Shahar | |
|---|---|
God of dawn | |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | El (father) Asherah (mother) |
| Siblings | Shalim |
Shahar "Dawn" is a god in Ugaritic and Canaanite religion first mentioned in inscriptions found in Ugarit (now Ras Shamra, Syria). [1]
William F. Albright identified Shalim as the god of the dusk and Shahar as the god of the dawn. [2]
Shahar and Salim are the twin children of El. As the markers of dawn and dusk, Shahar and Shalim also represented the temporal structure of the day. [3]
The names Shahar and Shalim are masculine, and it appears the gods are as well.
Sutton recently says the word שחר is used 43 times in the Tanakh. These include 23 as a noun (dawn, tomorrow, the morning star) 6 adjectivally (black) 12 as a piʿel verb ("to seek, to desire") or qal ("to become black" or "to be intent on"). "This indicates that within the etymology of שחר in the Hebrew Bible it is primarily used as a primary noun (sometimes) descriptive of the god or goddess Shachar." [4]
In Arabic, the word saḥar (سحر) refers to the predawn period and comes from the same Semitic root. This root is also visible in suḥūr (سحور), the predawn meal Muslims eat during Ramadan.
Hebrew šaḥar is a primary noun. The Akkadian šēru(m) II and the dialectal Assyrian form šiāru(m), meaning ‘morning,’ argue against a verbal derivation since the substantival form pirâs only generates primary nouns. Furthermore, Old South Arabian śaḥar, which means "dawn, daybreak", does not suggest a causative form. Variations found in Qumran include Middle Hebrew šaḥar (1QH4:6: kšḥr, 'like the dawn'; 11QPsa 26:11: establishment of the dawn [kwn hiphil ]; 4Q487 36,1 lšḥr, uncertain); Jewish Aramaic šaḥarā, 'morning dawn, early morning'; Moabite (feminine!) šḥrt, compare mbqʽ hšḥrt, 'from daybreak'; Ugaritic šḥr, 'dawn, daybreak', and šḥr par. qdm, 'east wind'; šḥr ʽlmt, 'from this morning to eternity'; as well as the twin gods šḥr wšlm, 'morning and evening star', and ʽm šḥr wšlm šmmh, 'to šḥr and šlm in heaven'; Arabic saḥar, 'time before daybreak, early morning, dawn'. The ancient Arabic god Saḥar, 'dawn, daybreak', is depicted in reliefs with the symbol of the dragon's head. The form šaḥar also appears as a divine name in personal names, including Ugaritic ìlšḥr "šḥr is (my) god"; Phoenician ʽbdšḥr, šḥrbʽl. [5] [6]
Isaiah 14:12–15 has been the origin of the belief that Satan was a fallen angel, who could also be referred to as Lucifer. [7] It refers to the rise and disappearance of the morning star Venus in the phrase "O Shining One, son of Dawn!" (Hebrew : הֵילֵל בֶּן־שָׁחַר, romanized: Hēlēl ben Shāḥar, lit. 'exalted one, son of Shāḥar', translated as Lucifer in the Vulgate and preserved in the early English translations of the Bible.) [7]
This understanding of Isaiah 14:12–15 seems to be the most accepted interpretation in the New Testament, as well as among early Christians such as Origen, Eusebius, Tertullian, and Pope Gregory I. [7] It may be considered a Christian "remythologization" of Isaiah 14, as the verse originally used Canaanite religion to build its imagery of the hubris of a historical ruler, "the king of Babylon" in Isaiah 14:4. [7]
The role of Venus as the morning star was taken by ʿAṯtar, in this instance referred to as "son of Shāḥar". [8] The reference to Shāḥar remains enigmatic to scholars, who have a wide range of theories on the mythological framework and sources for the passage in Isaiah. [9]
Also known as CTA 23, The conception and birth of Shakhar-wa-Shalim are found here. The story, or section (if more exists) fits on one tablet without being cramped. [10]
There is a short invocation of the gods. A "Mutu-wa-Sharru" (this is quite unclear) joins. The themes of fertility, pruning, and bereavement with vineyard references. The muddledness of vitality, fecundity, and necrocity could reflect ironies, contrasts, and our poor understanding. Pardee makes room for others' suggestions of circumcision imagery.[ citation needed ]
There's another invocation. Two women, apparently human worshipers, entice El. He seduces them, after a hunting ritual in which he roasts a bird he shot out of the air. In time they give birth to Shakhar-we-Shalim, whom the goddess nurses. They have their lips at the birds of the sky and fish of the sea: it seems to mean greedy appetites.[ citation needed ]
Message to Shaxru-wa-Shalimu [11]
She again calls to her mother Šapšu:
Mother Šapšu, take a message
to Shaxru-wa-Shalimu in the heavens:20
My incantation for serpent bite,
for the scaly serpent's poison:
From it, O charmer, destroy,
from it cast out the venom.
Then he binds the serpent,
feeds the scaly serpent,
draws up a chair and sits.
This article incorporates textfrom this source, which is available under the CC BY 4.0 license.| Authority control databases: National |
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The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. It appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate, not as the name of a devil but as the Latin word lucifer (uncapitalized), meaning "the morning star", "the planet Venus", or, as an adjective, "light-bringing". It is a translation of the Hebrew word הֵילֵל, hêlēl, meaning "Shining One".
Baal, or Baʻal, was a title and honorific meaning 'owner' or 'lord' in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied to gods. Scholars previously associated the theonym with solar cults and with a variety of unrelated patron deities, but inscriptions have shown that the name Ba'al was particularly associated with the storm and fertility god Hadad and his local manifestations.
El is a Northwest Semitic word meaning 'god' or 'deity', or referring to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities. A rarer form, 'ila, represents the predicate form in the Old Akkadian and Amorite languages. The word is derived from the Proto-Semitic *ʔil-.
Hadad, Haddad, Adad, or Iškur (Sumerian) was the storm and rain god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions. He was attested in Ebla as "Hadda" in c. 2500 BCE. From the Levant, Hadad was introduced to Mesopotamia by the Amorites, where he became known as the Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) god Adad. Adad and Iškur are usually written with the logogram 𒀭𒅎dIM—the same symbol used for the Hurrian god Teshub. Hadad was also called Pidar, Rapiu, Baal-Zephon, or often simply Baʿal (Lord), but this title was also used for other gods. The bull was the symbolic animal of Hadad. He appeared bearded, often holding a club and thunderbolt and wearing a bull-horned headdress. Hadad was equated with the Greek god Zeus, the Roman god Jupiter, as well as the Babylonian Bel.
Asherah was a goddess in ancient Semitic religions. She also appears in Hittite writings as Ašerdu(s) or Ašertu(s), and as Athirat in Ugarit. Some scholars hold that Yahweh and Asherah were a consort pair in ancient Israel and Judah, while others disagree.
Tannin or Tunnanu was a sea monster in Canaanite and Hebrew mythology used as a symbol of chaos and evil.
Elohim, the plural of אֱלוֹהַּ, is a Hebrew word meaning "gods" or "godhood". Although the word is grammatically plural, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly the God of Israel. In other verses it refers to the singular gods of other nations or to deities in the plural.
Elyon or El Elyon, is an epithet that appears in the Hebrew Bible. ʾĒl ʿElyōn is usually rendered in English as "God Most High", and similarly in the Septuagint as ὁ Θεός ὁ ὕψιστος. The title ʿElyōn is a common topic of scholarly debate, sometimes interpreted as equal to the Abrahamic God, and otherwise theorized as a reference to a separate deity of its own kind, potentially above that of Yahweh.
Idolatry in Judaism is prohibited. Judaism holds that idolatry is not limited to the worship of an idol itself, but also worship involving any artistic representations of God. The prohibition is epitomized by the first two "words" of the decalogue: I am the Lord thy God, Thou shalt have no other gods before me, and Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any image in the sky, on earth or in the sea. These prohibitions are re-emphasized repeatedly by the later prophets, suggesting the ongoing appeal of Canaanite religion and syncretic assimilation to the ancient Israelites.
Ancient Semitic religion encompasses the polytheistic religions of the Semitic peoples from the ancient Near East and Northeast Africa. Since the term Semitic represents a rough category when referring to cultures, as opposed to languages, the definitive bounds of the term "ancient Semitic religion" are only approximate but exclude the religions of "non-Semitic" speakers of the region such as Egyptians, Elamites, Hittites, Hurrians, Mitanni, Urartians, Luwians, Minoans, Greeks, Phrygians, Lydians, Persians, Medes, Philistines and Parthians.
Yam was a god representing the sea and other sources of water worshiped in various locations on the eastern Mediterranean coast, as well as further inland in modern Syria. He is best known from the Ugaritic texts. While he was a minor deity in Ugaritic religion, he is nonetheless attested as a recipient of offerings, and a number of theophoric names invoking him have been identified. He also played a role in Ugaritic mythology. In the Baal Cycle he is portrayed as an enemy of the weather god, Baal. Their struggle revolves around attaining the rank of the king of the gods. The narrative portrays Yam as the candidate favored by the senior god El, though ultimately it is Baal who emerges victorious. Yam nonetheless continues to be referenced through the story after his defeat. In texts from other archaeological sites in Syria, attestations of Yam are largely limited to theophoric names. In Emar he was among the many deities venerated during a local festival, zukru, which took place once every seven years.
Canaanite religion was a group of ancient Semitic religions practiced by the Canaanites living in the ancient Levant from at least the early Bronze Age to the first centuries CE. Canaanite religion was polytheistic and in some cases monolatristic. It was influenced by neighboring cultures, particularly ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian religious practices. The pantheon was headed by the god El and his consort Asherah, with other significant deities including Baal, Anat, Astarte, and Mot.
Shalim is a pagan god in Canaanite religion, mentioned in inscriptions found in Ugarit. William F. Albright identified Shalim as the god of the dusk and Shahar as the god of the dawn. In the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, Venus is represented by Shalim as the Evening Star and Shahar as the Morning Star. His name derives from the triconsonantal Semitic root Š-L-M.
Kothar-wa-Khasis, also known as Kothar or Hayyānu, was an Ugaritic god regarded as a divine artisan. He could variously play the roles of an architect, smith, musician or magician. Some scholars believe that this name represents two gods, Kothar and Khasis, combined into one.
In the Hebrew Bible, as well as non-Jewish ancient texts from the region, the Northwest Semitic term Rephaite or Repha'im refers either to a people of greater-than-average height and stature in Deuteronomy 2:10-11, or departed spirits in the afterlife, Sheol as written in the following scriptures: Isaiah 26:14; Psalms 88:10, and Proverbs 9:18, as well as Isaiah 14:9.
Shapshu or Shapsh, and also Shamshu, was a Canaanite sun goddess. She also served as the royal messenger of the high god El, her probable father. Her most common epithets in the Ugaritic corpus are nrt ỉlm špš, rbt špš, and špš ʿlm. In the pantheon lists KTU 1.118 and 1.148, Shapshu is equated with the Akkadian dšamaš.
Q-D-Š is a triconsonantal Semitic root meaning "sacred, holy", derived from a concept central to ancient Semitic religion. From a basic verbal meaning "to consecrate, to purify", it could be used as an adjective meaning "holy", or as a substantive referring to a "sanctuary, sacred object, sacred personnel."
Venus, as one of the brightest objects in the sky, has been known since prehistoric times and has been a major fixture in human culture for as long as records have existed. As such, it has a prominent position in human culture, religion, and myth. It has been made sacred to gods of many cultures, and has been a prime inspiration for writers and poets as the morning star and evening star.
Hauron, Haurun or Hawran was an ancient Egyptian god worshiped in Giza. He was closely associated with Harmachis, with the names in some cases used interchangeably, and his name as a result could be used as a designation of the Great Sphinx of Giza. While Egyptologists were familiar with Hauron since the nineteenth century, his origin was initially unknown, and only in the 1930s it was established that he originated outside Egypt. Today it is agreed that he was the Egyptian form of a god worshiped in Canaan and further north in the city of Ugarit, conventionally referred to as Horon in scholarship.
Gupan and Ugar were two Ugaritic gods who functioned as the messengers of the weather god Baal. They always appear as a pair in known texts. They are well attested in the Baal Cycle, where they carry messages from their master to other deities, such as Anat, Kothar-wa-Khasis and Mot. However, they are absent from offering lists and other texts dealing with the sphere of cult, which lead to the proposal that they were only literary characters, rather than actively worshiped deities.
