Eshmun

Eshmun (or Eshmoun, less accurately Esmun or Esmoun; '; ''Yasumunu'') was a Phoenician god of healing and the tutelary god of Sidon. His name, which means "eighth," may reference his status as the eighth son of the god Sydyk.

History

Eshmun was known at least from the Iron Age period at Sidon and was worshipped also in Tyre, Beirut, Cyprus, Sardinia, and in Carthage where the site of Eshmun's temple is now occupied by the acropolium of Carthage.

According to Eusebius of Caesarea, Phoenician author Sanchuniathon wrote that Sydyk (meaning "Righteousness;" sometimes equated with Jupiter) first fathered seven sons equated with the Greek Cabeiri or Dioscuri, no mother named, and then afterwards fathered an eighth son by one of the seven Titanides (possibly equivalent to the Kotharat). The name ''Eshmun'' appears to mean 'the Eighth'.

The Neo-Platonist Damascius also stated that:

Photius (''Bibliotheca'' Codex 242) summarizes Damascius as saying further that Asclepius of Beirut was a youth who was fond of hunting. He was seen by the goddess Astronoë (thought by many scholars to be a version of Astarte) who so harassed him with amorous pursuit that in desperation he castrated himself and died. Astronoë then named the youth ''Paeon'' 'Healer', restored him to life from the warmth of her body, and changed him into a god.

A trilingual inscription of the 2nd century BCE from Sardinia also identifies Eshmun with the Greek Asclepius and the Latin Aesculapius. Pausanias quotes a Sidonian as saying that the Phoenicians claim Apollo as the father of Asclepius, as do the Greeks, but unlike them do not make his mother a mortal woman. The Sidonian then continued with an allegory which explained that Apollo represented the sun, whose changing path imparts to the air its healthiness which is to be understood as Asclepius. This allegory seems likely a late invention. Also, Apollo is usually equated with the Phoenician plague god Resheph. This might be a variant version of Eshmun's parentage, or Apollo might also be equated with Sadyk, and Sadyk might be equated with Resheph.

In Cyprus, Eshmun was syncretized with Melqart, and also in Ibiza, as given by a dedication reciting: "to his lord, Eshmun-Melqart".

The name ''Astresmunim'' ("herb of Eshmun") was applied by DioscoridesDioscorides, 4.71 to the ''solanum'', which was regarded as having medicinal qualities.

Worship

The Temple of Eshmun is found 1 km from Sidon on the Bostrenus (now called the Awali in southwestern Lebanon). Building was begun at the end of the sixth century BCE during the reign of Eshmunazar II, King of Sidon, and later additions were made up into the Roman period. It was excavated by Maurice Dunand in 1963–1978. Many votive offerings were found in the form of statues of persons healed by the god, especially babies and young children.

Also found near the temple was a gold plaque of Eshmun and the goddess Hygieia (meaning "Health") showing Eshmun holding a staff in his right hand around which a serpent is entwined. A coin of the 3rd century CE from Beirut shows Eshmun standing between two serpents.

Place names

A village near Beirut named Qabr Shmoun, "Eshmoun's grave," still exists.

See also

* Delos

References

Bibliography

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West Semitic gods
Tutelary gods
Health gods
Phoenician mythology
Temple of Eshmun
Melqart