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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Dagon</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04602c.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="A Philistine deity"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="cathen" id="04602c.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../cathen">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> > <a href="../cathen/d.htm">D</a> > Dagon</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>Dagon</h1> <p><em><a href="https://gumroad.com/l/na2"><strong>Please help support the mission of New Advent</strong> and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p>A <a href="../cathen/12021c.htm">Philistine</a> deity. It is commonly admitted that the name <em>Dagon</em> is a diminutive form, hence a term of endearment, derived from the Semitic root <em>dag</em>, and means, accordingly, "little fish". The name, therefore, indicates a fish-shaped god. This the <a href="../bible">Bible</a> also suggests when speaking of the Dagon <a href="../cathen/07636a.htm">worshipped</a> in the <a href="../cathen/14495a.htm">temple</a> of <a href="../cathen/02169a.htm">Azotus</a> (<a href="../bible/1sa005.htm#vrs1">1 Samuel 5:1-7</a>): 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" (<a href="../bible/1sa005.htm#vrs5">verse 5</a>). From the received text of the <a href="../cathen/13722a.htm">Septuagint</a> 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 a <a href="../cathen/06586a.htm">gloss</a>. With the description found in the <a href="../bible">Bible</a> coincides that which may be seen on the <a href="../cathen/11152a.htm">coins</a> of various <a href="../cathen/12021c.htm">Philistine</a> or <a href="../cathen/12041a.htm">Ph&oelig;nician</a> cities, on most of which Dagon is represented as a composite figure, <a href="../cathen/09580c.htm">human</a> 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 as <a href="../cathen/02169a.htm">Azotus</a>, <a href="../cathen/06399c.htm">Gaza</a> (the early sites of which are supposed to be buried under the sand-mounds that run along the sea-shore), <a href="../cathen/01766b.htm">Ascalon</a>, and Arvad. In the monuments  also most probably in the popular <a href="../cathen/07636a.htm">worship</a>  Dagon is sometimes associated with a <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">female</a> half-fish deity, Derceto or Atargatis, often identified with Astarte.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>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' [the <a href="../cathen/07176a.htm">Hebrew</a> word for corn is <em>dagan</em>]. "Dagon, after he had discovered corn and the plough, was called Zeus of the plough" (ii, 16). The same writer tells us (in <a href="../cathen/05617b.htm">Eusebius</a>, Pr&oelig;p. Evang., i, 6) that, according to an old <a href="../cathen/12041a.htm">Ph&oelig;nician</a> legend, Dagon was one of the four sons born of the <a href="../cathen/09693a.htm">marriage</a> of Anu, the lord of <a href="../cathen/07170a.htm">heaven</a>, 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 in <a href="../cathen/12041a.htm">Ph&oelig;nician</a> 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 and <a href="../cathen/07636a.htm">worship</a> of Dagon were imported from <a href="../cathen/02179b.htm">Babylonia</a>.</p> <p>The <a href="../cathen/14477d.htm">Tell-el-Amarna letters</a> (about 1480-1450 B.C.), which have yielded the names of Yamir-Dagan and Dagan-takala, rulers of <a href="../cathen/01766b.htm">Ascalon</a>, witness to the antiquity of the Dagon-worship among the inhabitants of Palestine. We learn from the <a href="../bible">Bible</a> that the deity had <a href="../cathen/14495a.htm">temples</a> at <a href="../cathen/06399c.htm">Gaza</a> (<a href="../bible/jdg016.htm#vrs21">Judges 16:21, 23</a>) and <a href="../cathen/02169a.htm">Azotus</a> (<a href="../bible/1sa005.htm#vrs1">1 Samuel 5:1-7</a>); we may presume that shrines existed likewise in other <a href="../cathen/12021c.htm">Philistine</a> cities. The Dagon-worship seems even to have extended beyond the confines of their confederacy. The testimony of the monuments is positive for the <a href="../cathen/12041a.htm">Ph&oelig;nician</a> city of Arvad; moreover, the <a href="../bible/jos000.htm">Book of Josue</a> mentions two towns called <a href="../cathen/02532c.htm">Bethdagon</a>, one in the territory of <a href="../cathen/08536a.htm">Juda</a> (<a href="../bible/jos015.htm#vrs41">Joshua 15:41</a>), and the other on the border of <a href="../cathen/01774d.htm">Aser</a> (<a href="../bible/jos019.htm#vrs27">Joshua 19:27</a>); <a href="../cathen/08522a.htm">Josephus</a> also speaks of a Dagon "beyond <a href="../cathen/08339a.htm">Jericho</a>" (Antiq. Jud., XIII, viii, 1; De bell. Jud., I, ii, 3): all these names are earlier than the <a href="../cathen/08193a.htm">Israelite</a> conquest, and, unless we derive them from <em>dagan</em>, witness to a wide dissemination of the <a href="../cathen/07636a.htm">worship</a> of Dagon throughout Palestine. This <a href="../cathen/07636a.htm">worship</a> was kept up, at least in certain <a href="../cathen/12021c.htm">Philistine</a> cities, until the last centuries B.C. — such was the case at <a href="../cathen/02169a.htm">Azotus</a>; the <a href="../cathen/14495a.htm">temple</a> of Dagon that stood there was burned by <a href="../cathen/09493b.htm#jonathan">Jonathan Machabeus</a> (<a href="../bible/1ma010.htm#vrs84">1 Maccabees 10:84</a>; <a href="../bible/1ma011.htm#vrs4">11:4</a>).</p> <p>Unlike the <a href="../cathen/02175a.htm">Baals</a>, who, among the <a href="../cathen/03569b.htm">Chanaanites</a>, were essentially local deities, Dagon seems to have been considered by the <a href="../cathen/12021c.htm">Philistines</a> as a national god (<a href="../bible/1ch010.htm#vrs10">1 Chronicles 10:10</a>). To him they attributed their success in <a href="../cathen/15546c.htm">war</a>; him they thanked by great <a href="../cathen/13309a.htm">sacrifices</a>, before him they rejoiced over the capture of <a href="../cathen/13423a.htm">Samson</a> (<a href="../bible/jdg016.htm#vrs23">Judges 16:23</a>); into his <a href="../cathen/14495a.htm">temple</a> they brought the trophies of their victories, the <a href="../cathen/01721a.htm">Ark</a> (<a href="../bible/1sa005.htm#vrs1">1 Samuel 5:1, 2</a>), the armour, and the head of Saul (<a href="../bible/1sa031.htm#vrs9">1 Samuel 31:9-10</a>; <a href="../bible/1ch010.htm#vrs10">1 Chronicles 10:10</a>). A bronze demi-rilievo of <a href="../cathen/02007c.htm">Assyro</a>-<a href="../cathen/12041a.htm">Ph&oelig;nician</a> workmanship would also suggest that Dagon played a prominent part in the doctrines concerning death and future life. As to the ritual of his <a href="../cathen/07636a.htm">worship</a>, little can be gathered either from the documents or from <a href="../bible">Scripture</a>. The elaborate arrangements for returning the <a href="../cathen/01721a.htm">Ark</a> (<a href="../bible/1sa005.htm#vrs6">1 Samuel 5:6</a>) may have been inspired more by the circumstances than by any <a href="../cathen/03538b.htm">ceremonies</a> of the Dagon-worship. We only know from ancient writers that, for <a href="../cathen/12738a.htm">religious</a> reasons, most of the <a href="../cathen/14399a.htm">Syrian</a> peoples <a href="../cathen/01067a.htm">abstained</a> from eating fish, a practice that one is naturally inclined to connect with the <a href="../cathen/07636a.htm">worship</a> of a fish-god.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Souvay, C.</span> <span id="apayear">(1908).</span> <span id="apaarticle">Dagon.</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04602c.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Souvay, Charles.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"Dagon."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 4.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1908.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04602c.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by David M. Cheney.</span> <span id="dedication">Dedicated to Ceil Holman (1907-1996), my grandmother.</span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> Remy Lafort, Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. 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