Ww occurs in ΣΟΡΕΣ names of Cyprus, and meets us in Egypt as Rashpu, and is ascribed by Meyer, like Anath (see above), to the Hittites. It seems, however, more natural tc connect the name with the Hebrew word for ‘flame,’ and to look upon the deity as a god of storms or lightning. This seems, too, to be confirmed by the combination ἢ yn in CIS 10 (ef. Driver, Deut. 68, with references).
mon was the great goddess of Carthage; but though her name occurs some 2000 times in in- scriptions, we are ignorant of her nature and origin. Except in two or three inscriptions she is always αὐ τ δι bya 15 ‘face οἵ Ba‘al. A compound deity ninvs occurs in some inscriptions.
As has been noticed in the case of ‘Anat and Resheph, it is possible that some of the gods already mentioned were taken from other peoples. In the later period this borrowing certainly took place, and in the inscriptions we find the Babylonian Nergal, the Egyptian Isis, Osiris, Absit (e.g. Bastu, ef. Bubastis, Bok 3017), Horus, and Ptah. In some eases a Phoenician god was joined with a foreign one, as in Melekosir (so Jeremias), but the first part of the name may be only appellative.
(b) Sacred objects and cultus.—As in other Sem- itic religions of Western Asia, the most prominent objects of nature had an idea of sanctity attached to them. Whether as themselves containing spirits, who had power over men, or simply as the greatest gifts of the gods, they were regarded with feelings of awe. High places (mp3) were chosen for their temples and altars as being especi- ally near the deity ; and it was on Carmel (which was known to be sacred in the time of Tacitus, cf. Hist. ii. 78) that the priests of Baal offered with Elijah (1 K 18). Im Greek and Roman writers there are many memories of the earlier sanctity of various Pheenician mountains, from Mt. Casius to Carmel. Waters, too, were regarded with venera- tion, and some were particularly associated with certain gods, and even named after them (as the Adonis). Springs and rivers, two sources of life in the East, were regarded with peculiar reverence. Trees, too, we find sacred, especially to certain goddesses. The cypress, myrtle, and palm were closely associated with Astarte. ‘This specializa- tion is, however, probably only a development frora an earlier form of nature-worship.
The ordinary worship of the Phenician might be offered in any place in the open air, but was most natural on high places, with trees, and often with a sacred stream. Among these surroundings was built an altar with an eshera beside it, and on it the sacrifice was offered. But there is mention in history of temples (e.g. the temple of Melkarth
862 PHENIX
at Tyre); and one would naturally expect that those who did so much for the temple of Jerusalem should have had great sanctuaries of their own. Yet it is very doubtful whether the temple ever
layed a very important part in the worship of
heenicia, or was ever much more than a prominent adornment of a city. Sacrifices were usual, and human life was offered in the fire and human blood on the altars, but apparently only on important ocersions. Various animals, both tame and wild, were offered, and products of the field as well as flesh. Sacred prostitution was also a form of offering common to many acts of Phenician wor- ship. Vows were made in time of difficulty or danger, and votive offerings (statuettes, tablets, ete.) were common. Feasts, too, were often associ- ated with religious rites. Priests and priestesses officiated, and the king himself was sometimes (if not always) a priest.
LrreraTurE.—The articles Tyre, ΒΙΡῸΝ, TARSHISH, etc., in this Dictionary, as well as articles on several of the gods by Ed. Meyer in Roscher’s Lexikon, by Baudissin in Herzog’s Real- encyclopedie’, and by various writers in this Dictionary, and in the Encyclopedia Biblica; Baethgen, Beitrdge zur semttischen Religionsgeschichte, especially pp. 16-65, with Noldeke’s review in ZDMG xiii. 470ff.; Baudissin, Studien zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte, i. and ii. ; Jeremias in de la Saussaye’s Lehrbuch ἃ. Rel, eschichte2, i, 221 ff.; Orelli, Allgemeine Religionsgeschichte ; Tiele, Geschiedenis van den Godsdienst in de Oudheid (Amsterdam, 1893), i. 245 ff.; Ed. Meyer, ‘Ueber einige semitische Gotter,’ in ZDMG xxxi. 716ff.; Hoffmann, Ueber einige phinikische Inschriften (Gottingen, 1889); Hommel, Die altisraelitische Ueberlieferung, p. 219 ff. [AHT' p. 219ff.]; and the following :—
GeNERAL LiTERATURE.—In addition to the works mentioned and quoted in the different sections of this article, the following are the most important general writings on the subject : Movers, Die Phonizier (a new edition has long been promised, and should become the standard work); Pietschmann, Geschichte der Pheenizier (in Oncken’s series); Kenrick, Phenicia; Raw- linson, History of Phenicia (and a smaller volume in the ‘Story of the Nations’ series): the sections dealing with the Phenicians in the Histories of antiquity of Duncker, Ed. Meyer, and Maspero; cf. Meltzer, Geschichte der Karthager.
G. W. THATCHER.
PHENIX (Φοίνιξ, AV Phenice) was a good har- bour on the south coast of Crete. When the corn- ship from Alexandria, bound for either Puteoli or the Portus Augustus beside Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber,* on which St. Paul was sailing from Myra towards Italy, had been detained so Jong on the voyage that it was considered too late in the season to risk the passage across the open sea from Crete to the southern coast of Italy, it was resolved to winter in Crete. When the resolution was come to, the ship was lying in Fair Havens, near the middle of the south coast. The question then arose, where should the ship lie up? The centurion, who evidently had the supreme authority,+ called a council to advise him on this question ; and the opinion of both captain and sailing-master was that they should seek an opportunity and make for the harbour of Phenix. Paul, whose opinion was also asked (as, though a prisoner, he was treated with much consideration, being a Roman whose appeal to the emperor had been allowed by the procurator governing Palestine, and being also an experienced and practised traveller), strongly urged that they should stay where they were. There must have been good reasons on both sides. The experienced sailors had some ground for their opinion: presumably Phenix was a better and safer harbour, and quite probably also it was