Resheph
Ršp
in hieroglyphs

Resheph (Rašap, Rešef, Reshef; Canaanite/Hebrew ršp רשף) was a Canaanite deity of plague and war. In Egyptian iconography Resheph is depicted wearing the crown of Upper Egypt surmounted in front by the head of a gazelle. He has links with Theban war god Montu and was thought of as a guardian deity in battle by many Egyptian pharaohs. Although the iconography of Resheph shares the gazelle with that of the Egyptian-Canaanite Shed, Izak Cornelius writes that "the rest of the attributes are totally different." [1] According to myth, Resheph exerted a benign influence against disease.

Contents

In Ugaritic Texts

In Ugarit, Resheph was identified with Nergal, in Idalion, Cyprus, with Apollo.[2]

Resheph is mentioned in Ugaritic mythological texts such as the epic of Kirta[3] and The Mare and Horon.[4] In Phoenician inscriptions he is called rshp gn 'Resheph of the Garden' and b`l chtz 'lord of the arrow'. Phoenician-Hittite bilinguals refer to him as 'deer god' and 'gazelle god'.

In Kition, Cyprus, Resheph had the epithet of ḥṣ, interpreted as "arrow" by Javier Teixidor,[5] who consequently interprets Resheph as a god of plague, comparable to Apollo whose arrows bring plague to the Danaans (Iliad I.42-55).

Resheph become popular in Egypt under Amenhotep II (18th dynasty), where he served as god of horses and chariots. Originally adopted into the royal cult, Resheph became a popular deity in the Ramesside Period, at the same time disappearing from royal inscriptions. In this later period, Resheph is often accompanied by Qetesh and Min.

The ancient town of Arsuf in central Israel still incorporates the name Resheph, thousands of years after his worship ceased.

In Eblaite Texts

Resheph is found in the third millennium tablets from Ebla (Tell Mardikh) as Rasap or Ra-sa-ap. He is listed as the divinity of the cities of Atanni, Gunu, Tunip, and Shechem. Rasap is also one of the chief gods of the city of Ebla having one of the four city gates named in his honor.[6]

In Hebrew Bible

The name appears as a word in Classical Hebrew with the derived or figurative meanings of "arrow" (as "lightning of the bow", Job 5:7) and "a burning fever, a plague" (by which the body is "inflamed", Deuteronomy 32:24).[7] Resheph as a personal name, a grandson of Ephraim, occurs in 1 Chronicles 7:25.

The Hebrew of Habakkuk 3:5 names Dabir and Resheph marching defeated before El's parade from Teman and Mount Paran. Dabir and Resheph are normally translated as Pestilence and Plague..

See also

Notes

  1. ^ {{cite book|last=Cornelius|first=Izak|title=The iconography of the Canaanite gods Reshef and Baal: Late Bronze and Iron Age I periods (C 1500-1000 BCE)|year=1994|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|isbn=978-3727809835|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=i5t3JFU__0UC&pg=PA16&dq=.+Resheph+has+also+been+viewed+as+a+form+of+[[Shed&hl=en&ei=uO2GTvn1BYj6sgaCrfnhAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=16}}
  2. ^ Javier Teixidor, The Phoenician Inscriptions of the Cesnola Collection. Metropolitan Museum Journal 11, 1976, 65
  3. ^ tablet 1/CAT 1.14, column 1, lines 18-20; tablet 2/CAT 1.15, column 2, line 6
  4. ^ CAT 1.100, lines 30-31
  5. ^ Javier Teixidor, The Phoenician Inscriptions of the Cesnola Collection. Metropolitan Museum Journal 11, 1976, 65
  6. ^ Giovanni Pettinato, The Archives of Ebla: An Empire Inscribed in Clay. Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1981 ISBN-0-385-13152-6
  7. ^ Strong's Concordance

References

Deities

Levantine deities: Adonis  • Anat  • Asherah  • Ashima  • Astarte  • Atargatis  • Baʿal  • Baalat Gebal  • Beelshamen  • Berith  • Chemosh  • Dagon  • Derceto  • El  • Elohim  • Elyon  • Eshmun  • Hadad  • Kothar-wa-Khasis  • Melqart  • Mot  • Qetesh  • Resheph  • Shahar  • Shalim  • Shapash  • Yahweh  • Yam  • Yarikh
Mesopotamian deities: Abzu/Apsu  • Adad  • Amurru  • An/Anu  • Anshar · Ashur  • Bes  • Enki/Ea  • Enlil  • Ereshkigal  • Inanna/Ishtar  • Kingu  • Kishar  • Lahmu & Lahamu  • Marduk  • Mummu  • Nabu  • Nammu  • Nanna/Sin  • Nergal  • Ningizzida  • Ninhursag  • Ninlil  • Tiamat  • Utu/Shamash

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