Gods, Goddesses and Religion

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Gods, Goddesses and Religion

• L.Os Learn about some of the Phoenician gods
  and see them represented in art.
• To discuss the possibility of human sacrifice.
• To explore Phoenician myths and legends

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• The Phoenicians, like the ancient Greeks,
  worshipped many different gods and goddesses.
• Because we do not have written documents from the
  Phoenicians it is sometimes hard to know who a
  particular deity is.
• Sometimes we are given visual clues

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Visual Clues

• Some might be holding a particular object
• Others might be holding a particular stance
• These visual clues are going to help us identify
  some of the Phoenicians most important gods and
  goddesses

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El

• The supreme God was El. He was believed to be the
  father of humankind and all creatures. He is not
  easily identified!

Bearded
Enthroned
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Baal
Arm held high
Moving forward
Baal was the main active god responsible for war
and fertility. He was the god of high places.
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Astarte
Astarte was the main female goddess. She was
goddess of fertility and love
Holding Breasts
Forward stance
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Tanit
She is recognized through her symbol a triangle,
a crescent moon and a sun
disc.
Tanit was goddess of the moon and became a
symbol of fertility like Astarte.
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Temples
The Phoenicians worshipped their deities in
temples, shrines and high places.
water
This is a reconstruction of the temple of Amrit
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Sacrifice the big debate!
A stele was placed over the urn with dedications
to the gods. Can you see which goddess these
stelae were dedicated to?
Tophet means childrens cemetery. This tophet
was found in Carthage
The writing says the child was given to this
goddess. Some think that means given
in sacrifice. Others argue that the children
died naturally and have been given into her care.
Urns like this held the remains of children.
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Classical writers have said the Phoenicians
sacrificed their children. There is no evidence
for this so why would these stories have been
told?
Propaganda
We have no texts left by the Phoenicians
themselves on their burials so we only have
what has been written about them by others.
This is second hand evidence and cannot always
be taken as fact.
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Sin Masks to ward off evil!
Masks were very important to Phoenician culture.
Experts think that these sin masks would ward
off evil and protect the home.
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Myths and Legends

• What is a myth?
• Do you know any famous myths or legends?

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• The Phoenicians, like the ancient Greeks, told
  their myths orally. They were not written down
  for a long time.
• We do not have any writing for the Phoenicians
  but some of the classical writers have recorded
  some of their stories.

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Here are a few of them!

• Elissa (Dido)
• Adonis
• Europa

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Elissa (Dido) founding Carthage
Elissa flees Tyre when her brother kills her
husband. She picks up women in Cyprus and takes
them to North Africa
Once there she founds Carthage, bargaining for
the land using an ox hide.
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Adonis
Myrrha tricks Theias into having a baby with
her. When he finds out he so angry that
Aphrodite turns Myrrha into a myrrh tree to
protect her. Adonis is born when a boar opens
the tree with its tusks or in some
versions Theias opens the tree with an arrow.
Aphrodite and Persephone both love Adonis. He
spends one third of the year with each of them
and is allowed to choose where he spends the
last. He is killed by a boar. The blood scattered
turns into anemones' and roses.
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Europa
Europa was a Phoenician woman of high lineage She
came from Sidon. Zeus came to the edge
of the water as a bull and
called her to ride on
his back. When she
climbed on he swam
off with her to
Crete.
On Europas disappearance from Earth, the
Phoenicians honoured her with a temple. The
temple was called the Temple of Astarte But
priests say the temple is sacred to Europa.
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Religion in music and art
The Phoenicians may have told their stories
through acting, using music to bring the words to
life. What instruments are being played here?
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Dance
The Phoenicians seemed to move from a light
hearted dancing style to a more serious style as
can be seen from the following illustrations
taken from Phoenician art.
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Quick Quiz

• Can you name these figures?

Baal
El
Astarte
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• What is this and what do some people believe
  happened to the person inside?

Can you retell any of the Phoenician myths like
the ancient Greeks did?
What instruments did the Phoenicians play?