Shahar (god)

For the moshav in Israel, see Shahar, Israel.
For the Israeli triathlete, see Shachar Sagiv.
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Ancient Semitic religion
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Shahar
God of dawn
Genealogy
ParentsEl (father) Asherah (mother)
SiblingsShalim

Shahar "Dawn" is a god in Ugaritic and Canaanite religion first mentioned in inscriptions found in Ugarit (now Ras Shamra, Syria).[1]

William F. Albright identified Shalim as the god of the dusk and Shahar as the god of the dawn.[2]

Shahar and Salim are the twin children of El. As the markers of dawn and dusk, Shahar and Shalim also represented the temporal structure of the day.[3]

The names Shahar and Shalim are masculine, and it appears the gods are as well.

Name

Hebrew

Sutton recently says the word שחר is used 43 times in the Tanakh. These include 23 as a noun (dawn, tomorrow, the morning star) 6 adjectivally (black) 12 as a piʿel verb ("to seek, to desire") or qal ("to become black" or "to be intent on"). "This indicates that within the etymology of שחר in the Hebrew Bible it is primarily used as a primary noun (sometimes) descriptive of the god or goddess Shachar."[4]

Arabic

In Arabic, the word saḥar (سحر) refers to the predawn period and comes from the same Semitic root. This root is also visible in suḥūr (سحور), the predawn meal Muslims eat during Ramadan.

Etymology

Hebrew šaḥar is a primary noun. The Akkadian šēru(m) II and the dialectal Assyrian form šiāru(m), meaning ‘morning,’ argue against a verbal derivation since the substantival form pirâs only generates primary nouns. Furthermore, Old South Arabian śaḥar, which means "dawn, daybreak", does not suggest a causative form. Variations found in Qumran include Middle Hebrew šaḥar (1QH4:6: kšḥr, 'like the dawn'; 11QPsa 26:11: establishment of the dawn [kwn hiphil]; 4Q487 36,1 lšḥr, uncertain); Jewish Aramaic šaḥarā, 'morning dawn, early morning'; Moabite (feminine!) šḥrt, compare mbqʽ hšḥrt, 'from daybreak'; Ugaritic šḥr, 'dawn, daybreak', and šḥr par. qdm, 'east wind'; šḥr ʽlmt, 'from this morning to eternity'; as well as the twin gods šḥr wšlm, 'morning and evening star', and ʽm šḥr wšlm šmmh, 'to šḥr and šlm in heaven'; Arabic saḥar, 'time before daybreak, early morning, dawn'. The ancient Arabic god Saḥar, 'dawn, daybreak', is depicted in reliefs with the symbol of the dragon's head.

Theophorics

The form šaḥar also appears as a divine name in personal names, including Ugaritic ìlšḥr "šḥr is (my) god"; Phoenician ʽbdšḥr, šḥrbʽl,[5][6] Hebrew אחישחר ("brother of Shahar")[7] and שחריה ("Yahweh is Shahar.")[8][9]

Sources

Tanakh

"Traces" of the deity can be found in the canon; HALOT 9524 names Isaiah 14:12, Psalm 139:9, Job 3:9 and 41:10.

Isaiah 14:12–15

Isaiah 14:12–15 has been the origin of the belief that Satan was a fallen angel, who could also be referred to as Lucifer.[10] It refers to the rise and disappearance of the morning star Venus in the phrase "O Shining One, son of Dawn!" (Hebrew: הֵילֵל בֶּן־שָׁחַר, romanized: Hēlēl ben Shāḥar, lit. 'exalted one, son of Shāḥar', translated as Lucifer in the Vulgate and preserved in the early English translations of the Bible.)[10]

This understanding of Isaiah 14:12–15 seems to be the most accepted interpretation in the New Testament, as well as among early Christians such as Origen, Eusebius, Tertullian, and Pope Gregory I.[10] It may be considered a Christian "remythologization" of Isaiah 14, as the verse originally used Canaanite religion to build its imagery of the hubris of a historical ruler, "the king of Babylon" in Isaiah 14:4.[10]

The role of Venus as the morning star was taken by ʿAṯtar, in this instance referred to as "son of Shāḥar".[11] The reference to Shāḥar remains enigmatic to scholars, who have a wide range of theories on the mythological framework and sources for the passage in Isaiah.[12]

Ugarit

KTU 1.23

The conception and birth of Šaḥar-w-Šalim[13] are found here. The story, or section (if more exists) fits on one tablet without being cramped.

There is a short invocation of the gods. A mt w šr[14] joins, and appears to harvest grapes with a "staff of widowhood." Pardee makes room for others' suggestions of circumcision imagery.[15]

There's another invocation. Two women, apparently human worshipers, entice El. He seduces them, after a hunting ritual in which he roasts a bird he shot out of the air. In time they give birth to Šaḥar-w-Šalim, whom the goddess nurses. Hungry, they have their lips at the birds of the sky and fish of the sea.

RS 24.244 Ugaritic liturgy against venomous reptiles

Message to Šaḥru-wa-Šalimu[16]

She again calls to her mother Šapšu:

Mother Šapšu, take a message

to Šaḥru-wa-Šalimu in the heavens:20

My incantation for serpent bite,

for the scaly serpent's poison:

From it, O charmer, destroy,

from it cast out the venom.

Then he binds the serpent,

feeds the scaly serpent,

draws up a chair and sits.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Golan, 2003, p. 82. "The name of the Canaanite deity of the setting sun Salim, or Salem, [...] The names [of Sahar and Salim] are rendered in modern scholarly texts as Shakhar and Shalim [...]"
  2. ^ Albright, W.F. (1994). Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths. G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series. Pennsylvania State University Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-931464-01-0.; cf. the Akkadian word for sunset, šalām šamši.
  3. ^ Hinnells, John R. (2007). A Handbook of Ancient Religions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 122.
  4. ^ (Ruppert 2004:576)
  5. ^ Sutton, Lodewyk (6 November 2017). "The dawn of two dawns: The mythical, royal and temporal implications of dawn for Psalms 108 and 110". HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies. 73 (3): 7. doi:10.4102/hts.v73i3.4463. hdl:2263/66078. ISSN 2072-8050. This article incorporates text from this source, which is available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  6. ^ Ruppert, 2004, p. 576; cf. Sutton, 2011, p. 547.
  7. ^ 1C 7 10
  8. ^ 1C 8 26
  9. ^ HALOT entry 9524. BRILL The Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, CD-ROM Edition © 1994-2000 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden
  10. ^ a b c d Day, John (2002). Yahweh and the gods and goddesses of Canaan. London: Sheffield Academic Press. p. 166. ISBN 9780567537836.
  11. ^ Day, John (2002). Yahweh and the gods and goddesses of Canaan. London: Sheffield Academic Press. p. 171. ISBN 9780567537836.
  12. ^ Poirier, John (1 July 1999). "An Illuminating Parallel to Isaiah XIV 12". Vetus Testamentum. 49 (3): 371–389. doi:10.1163/156853399774228047.
  13. ^ KTU 1.23 on page 68 gives šḥr.w šlm with ḥ on line 52 and šhr.w šlm with h on line 54
  14. ^ Motu- or Mutu-wa-Sharru (A few significations are available to Pardee, like a single being called "death and leader")
  15. ^ Dennis Pardee, The Context of Scripture I.87, DAWN AND DUSK (The Birth of the Gracious and Beautiful Gods)
  16. ^ Pardee, Dennis | COS 1.94