IDOLATRY
476
IDOLATRY
Baal-Peor, which would not have been repugnant to the pagan Arabs; the latter finds some support in the name Shittim, the acacias, as though tlie place had its name from some acacias sacred to Baal, and, moreover, we have no certain instance of the ajiiilication of the name of Baal to any non-Canaanitish divinity. Had such vile worship as was probably that of Baal-Peor been national in Moab, it is most unlikely that David would have been on very friendly terms with a Moabitish king.
The Philistine idolatry is connected ^vith that of Ca- naan, altliough it has peculiarities of its own, which are indeed so strong that it may be questioned whether it is entireh' or even mainly derived from the Canaanitish source. At Ekron, Baal-zebub was worshipped, and had a temple, to which Ahaziah, the wicked son of Ahab, sent to inquire. This name means either the lord of the fly, or Baal the flij. It is generally held that he was worsliipped as a driver-away of fliies, but we think it more probable that some venomous fly was sacred to him. The use of the term Baal is indicative of a con- nection with the Canaanitish system. The national di- vinity of the Philistines seems, however, to have been Dagon, to whom there were temples at Gaza and at Ashdod, and the general character of whose worship is evident in such traces as we observe in the names Ca- phar-Dagon, near Jamnia, and Beth-Dagon, the latter applied to two places, one in Judah and the other in Asher. The derivation of the name Dagon, ']'13'^, as that of a fish-god, is from J^, a fish. Gesenius considers it a diminutive, " little fish," used by way of endearment and honor ( Thes. s. v.) , but this is surelj' hazardous. Da- gon was represented as a man with the tail of a fish. There can be no doubt that he was connected with the Canaanitish system, as Derceto or Atargatis, the same as Ashtorcth, was worshipped mider a like mixed shape at Ashkelon [avTi] Se to /xtv Trpoaojirov ixu yvvaiKOQ, tu d' dWo aoJ/ia ttuv IxOvoc, Diod. Sic. ii, 4). In form he is the same as the Assyrian god supposed to correspond to the planet Saturn. The house of Dagon at Gaza, which Samson overthrew, must have been verj^ large, for about 3000 men and women then assembled on its roof. It had two principal, if not only, pillars in the midst, between which Samson Avas placed and was seen by the people on the roof. The inner portion of some of the ancient Egyptian temples consisted of a hjqjas- thral hall, supported bj' two or more pillars, and inner chambers. The overthrow of these pillars would bring down the stone roof of the hall, and destroy all persons beneath or upon it, without necessarily overthrowing the side-walls.
The idolatry of the Phoenicians is not spoken of in the Bible. Prom their inscriptions and the statements of profane authors we learn that this nation worshipped Baal and Ashtoreth. The details of their worship will be spoken of in the article Pikesicia,
Syrian idols are mentioned in a few places in Scrip- tare. Tammuz, whom the women of Israel lamented, is no doubt Adonis, whose worship implies that of Astarte or Ashtoreth. Rimmon, who appears to have been the chief divinity of the Syrian kings rulinfr at Damascus, may, if his name signifies hirjh (from fiOl), be a local form of Baal, who, as the sun-god, had a temple at the great Syrian city HeUopolis, now called Baalbek.
The book of Job, which, whatever its date, represents a primitive state of society, speaks of cosmic worship as though it was practiced in his country, Idumisa or north- ern Arabia. " If I beheld a sun when it shined, or a splendid moon progressing, and my heart were secretly enticed, and my hand touched my mouth, surely this [were] a depravity of judgment, for I should have de- nied God above" (xxxi, 26-28). See Poole, Genesis of the Earth and of Man, 2d ed. p. 184. This evidence is important in connection with that of the ancient preva- lence of cosmic worship in Arabia, and that of its prac- tice by some of the later kings of Judah. — Kitto.
4, Much indirect evidence on this subject might be