MELKART: ETYMOLOGY, CULTS, COUPLE, DIFFERENT CULTURES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Melkart was one of the most important gods that the Phoenicians had, who inhabited a city on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in the East. He was the guardian of the city of Tire, now part of Lebanon.

Some details about Melkart have not yet been clarified, something common in mythology of such ancient origin. He was associated with different things over the years and with power over the monarchy, the sea and even in commerce.

Small statue of the God Melkart. Source: José Luis Filpo Cabana, via Wikimedia Commons.

Melkart was related to another very relevant deity such as Baal or Moloch. From this association was born the idea that Melkart was also a god with influence on agriculture.

Etymology

The origin of the name Melkart was in the Phoenician culture. He was born by the union of two words 'Melek', which meant king, and 'Qart' which originated the term 'King of the city' with which Melkart was known in the city of Tire.

This god received other names or nicknames. Melkart himself came to be known as the Lord of Tire, while the Greeks referred to him as the Heracles of the city of Tire (Hercules according to Roman mythology).

The name Melkart first arose during the 9th century BC. The discovery of this data occurred about 60 years ago, thanks to an inscription made by the son of King Aram and which was found in Aleppo, in the northern part of Syria.

Worship

Melkart was linked to fire, an element that consumed him on multiple occasions, although he was later able to resurrect. Hiram I of Tire, king of the Phoenicians in the 10th century BC, created a festival in his honor that consisted of sacrificing a person. This resurrection of the god was celebrated annually among his faithful.

characteristics

The symbols with which Melkart was identified have been clearly defined thanks to the appearance of coins from the time when the god was worshiped. Due to its connection with the sea, animals such as dolphins and tuna refer to this deity.

Melkart was never represented in the form of a human, something that did happen with other gods, especially those that were part of Greek mythology.

The priests who paid homage to him in their temples were celibate. The clothing of these religious was white and created based on linen fabrics.

Melkart worship continued well into the fourth century AD.

Temple

The temples where the god Melkart was worshiped lasted for a long time in the territory of Tire. As there are no previous references to the 9th century, it is believed that the first construction of a temple for this deity occurred during the reign of Hiram. He was the successor to his father, Abibaal, and was in power for 30 years, between 969 and 939 BC.

Offerings and prayers to Melkart were made outside the temple, where an altar was placed. The cult included the sacrifice of animals, as was customary in almost all deity worship, the burning of incense or the offering of valuable goods.

The temple of Melkart did not allow the presence of foreigners, much less women. The temples had no images, only prayer scriptures and the continued presence of fire.

Description of Herodotus

The Greek historian Herodotus, considered by many to be the father of Western history, made one of the first descriptions of the Temple of Melkart. The geographer visited the city of Tire during the 5th century BC.

To gather information, Herodotus spoke with the priests present in the temple of Tire. They were the ones who assured that the creation of the temple occurred more than two thousand years before. This data has been linked to the founding of Tire as a city, which occurred in 2750 BC.

Herodotus explained the composition of the temple by detailing that it had two columns upon entering, both of great value since one was built in gold and the other with emeralds. Despite the fact that Melkart was never depicted as a human, the Greek historian claimed that in the temple there was a tomb where the remains of the god were found.

This data generated some controversy and doubts, since it opens the door to the theories that affirmed that Melkart was a real historical figure of that civilization and that he had a very important role in the birth of Tire as a city. Although some authors have refuted this and claim that the tomb of the god is in another area.

Melkart in Cádiz

In Spain, on the current island of Sancti Petri, there is another temple that was erected in honor of Melkart and it was there that he later became associated with Heracles. In this area a group of small statues were found in honor of the god Melkart. These figures were made in bronze.

One of the statues shows Melkart with lion skin that covered various parts of his body. Especially the head and the back area. These small figures show more similarities with the Greek representations of the gods than with the forms of the Phoenician peoples.

In other cultures

Melkart had great influence on other civilizations because the rulers of the city of Tire demanded that in each territory they take charge of building temples to worship the god. In this way, it was that the worship of Melkart reached the Mediterranean to Spanish lands and cities such as the current Larnaca, in Cyprus.

In Cyprus it was where the largest number of coins were created, in which the god is observed on one side and some species of the sea on the other.

In Carthage, today part of Tunisia but which in ancient times was a city full of emigrants from Tire, temples were also built in honor of Melkart.

The influence of the Phoenicians was so important in this area of ​​North Africa that its inhabitants were obliged to send offerings annually to Tire, specifically to the temple of Melkart.

Couple

He married the goddess Astarte, originally from Mesopotamia, being known by different names depending on the culture (Inanna, Ishtar or Astoret). Some historians came to associate the union of this couple with the birth of Cádiz, in Spain. Legend has it that Melkart came to the city to woo the goddess, they founded it and subsequently married.

References

1. Chase, M., Kuhn, M., Hausner, H., & Chaudron, C. The Hebrews, Phoenicians, and Hittites. St. Louis, Mo.: Milliken Pub. Co.
2. Daniel, M. (2014). Inheritance: Covenants, Kingdoms, Bodies and Nations. New York: Pocket Books.
3. Guirand, F. (1959). Larousse encyclopedia of mythology. New York: Prometheus Press.
4. Naiden, F. (2019). Soldier, priest, and god. New York: Oxford.
5. Wright, R., & Morey, A. (2009). The evolution of God. Old Saybrook, CT: Tantor Audio.