Influence of Phoenicians on Hebrew Civilization

The religious practices of the Phoenicians are mentioned in the Bible and in the writings of Greek and Latin authors, as is confirmed by the Phoenician inscriptions and the tablets found in Ugarit. Certainly, “what the Old Testament tells us of Canaanite culture could also describe Phoenician culture.”¹ In fact, we could say that there is harmony between the Semitic populations from Syria, Palestine and Lebanon, if we recognize that the names of Canaanite gods can differ from one city-state to other city-states. But the cult of these gods, their adoration and their religious rituals are the same in the whole region. At the beginning, we have to specify that many names of gods are just nicknames, or condescending names designed to hide the real name of the god that was known by the common people.

Deities

We find the existence of many gods which the Phoenicians worshipped, but we will refer to just some of the gods which the Bible mentions as being the gods which the Hebrew people also worshipped. The Pantheon at Ugarit has two gods as central figures: El and Baal, both common names – the first name means “god”, and the second name means “master”.

Baal is frequently mentioned in the texts from Ugarit under different compound names: Baal-Semed, Baal-Hanan, Baal-Samin, Baal-Peor (the Moabite god that Israel worshipped, Numbers 25:3 – “And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor; and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel”) etc. Baal appears also in the Bible as a god which the Hebrews worshipped: 2 Kings 17:16 last part – “…and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal”; Baal is Dagon’s son, the ancient god of wheat and of fertility, under the form of quiet or stormy rain. He is the god adored by Philistines in their cities Gat, Asdod and Ekron (Judges 16:23 – “Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand”). These compound names were not differing from one city-state to other city-states, just the name of the city was added, in which the name Baal was adored. For example: Baal-Lebanon (The Lord of Lebanon), Baal-Samin (The Lord of heavens), Baal-Berith, Baal-Hazor, Baal-Tamar, Baal-Zebub etc.

Baal was often identified with Adad, the Babylonian’s god, and then with the Arameans’s god under the form of Hadad. Baal’s role in the texts from Ugarit seems to be to regulate the seasons, and especially to bring the rain and thunder.

Baal’s wife is Ashtoreth (Astarte of Greeks), a variant of the Babylonian goddess’s name, Ishtar. Ashtoreth has the attributes of virginity, goddess of love, also the attributes of the goddess of passion, war and massacre. The Bible also speaks about the religious practice of the Phoenicians adopted by the Hebrews and often calls her “the goddess of the Zidonians”. 1King 11:5 first part. (Judges 2:13 – “And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth”; 1 Samuel 12:10 – “And they cried unto the Lord, and said, we have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth…” etc.)

Besides these statues, the Phoenicians worshiped natural objects, for example, the mountains and the rivers they bowed to. Concerning trees, the Phoenicians, like the ancient Greeks, had sacred groves and the Old Testament cites these groves consecrated to Ashtoreth. (2 Kings 17:10 – “And they set them up images and groves in every high hill and under every green tree.”)

Pillars were also adored. Such pillars have been found in Samaria and Jerusalem, though God commanded His people, “overthrow their altars, and break their pillars and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.”(Deuteronomy 12:3) The pillar was a symbol of a holy tree in which the deity was supposed to dwell.

The Phoenician temples were erected on the height of hills or mountains. The temples had as their servants the priests with shaven heads, exactly as in Egypt, and dressed only in linen garments, also as in Egypt. From the Old Testament we read about the existence of Baal’s priests of whom there were great numbers and which Elijah commanded the people to kill after the false prophets couldn’t bring the fire down for the offering. (1 Kings 18:40 – “And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.”)

The Phoenician priests had amongst them the prophets who told fortunes, the wizards who did magic and in the end there was the old Canaanite religious practice- necromancy, namely the calling of the dead to life for them to tell the future. This is what king Saul did in going to the witch of En-dor and for which he died. (1 Samuel 28:6-14)

Temple Prostitution

There is no doubt that in Phoenicia both male and female prostitution was done for their heathen deities.
Unfortunately this practice was often found amongst the Hebrew people. The Bible writings calls it “the price of a dog” (Deuteronomy 23:18 – “Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow; for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God”); this referred to the money collected from this practice which was practiced at times even in Jerusalem, though the faithful would oppose it. (1 King 15:12 first part; 14:24 – “And he took away the Sodomites out of the land…”; “And there were also Sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.”)

There must be a correlation between both the male and female temple prostitution with the customs of the famous Canaanite cities: Sodom and Gomorra. The Bible text says that two men entered the city as visitors, who in fact were angels, who came into Sodom to save Lot and his house. But the men in the street “called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.” Genesis 19:5 There was a ritual in Sodom to have sexual relations with strangers and maybe the same ritual of temple prostitution was in Gomorra. This is seen also in Judges 19:22 “…the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.”

Human Sacrifice

The Phoenicians brought offerings to their gods in order to acquire their goodwill, and offered them food, flesh and fruits which either were burned on the altars or were eaten in part by the believers and priests. But beside these usual offerings they brought human sacrifices and these, with temple prostitution, constitute the most striking characteristics of the Phoenician’s religion.

In Carthage² the god Baal-Hammon (named also El) was given child sacrifices in which children were burnt alive till late in the Carthaginian colonial times, maybe till the 3rd century BC.

Diodorus from Sicily describes how the victims were put on the hands of a bronze statue of that god, heated until red-hot, and then they would fall down into the fire. “There was in their city a bronze image of Cronus, extending its hands palms up and sloping toward the ground, so that each of the children when placed thereon rolled down and fell into a sort of gaping pit filled with fire.” ³

With all the documentation brought by pagan and Christian sources concerning human sacrifices in Phoenicia, the school of higher criticism from the 18th -19th century was skeptical concerning the reality of these dates, because there were no archeological confirmations of these assertions.

However, the situation was changed because they uncovered evidence in Carthage and in various other sites from Tunisia stelae dedicated to Tanit (identified with Astarte) and to Baal-Hammon (in the Bible it’s named Molech, 1 Kings 11:7 last part – “…and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon”). The stelae show the ritual of child sacrifice, also signs of Tanit, dedications to Baal-Hammon and Tanit, sun discs, crescent moons entwined with snakes, etc. Some of them are exhibited in the British Museum in London, which has a collection of nearly two hundred Punic and Neo-Punic stelae. Child sacrifices were called in Phoenician molk, in Hebrew molek and later this sacrifice was called molchomor. This Bible passage was about child sacrifice, which was offered in tophet – the place where babies and small children were sacrificed. (2 Kings 23:10 – “And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.”).

“The children were the most usual sacrifice for the god, Baal-Hammon. The ritual proceeded from the idea that the small pure children – the most precious thing which the parents had – are the perfect sacrifice for forgiveness and that this appeases, for certain, the gods. Plutarch tells that the mother assisted at the sacrifice without a cry or a sigh. If she was crying or sighing, she lost her honor, but anyway the child was thrown into the fire. The children were sacrificed every year on a certain day – before some important event or after misfortunes.” ⁴

This molek sacrifice is mentioned many times in Old Testament. King Ahaz gave his son as an offering to the god Molech, “following the abomination of the heathen”. (2 Kings 16:3 – “…and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.”) “The new religious ceremonies took root after the marriage of Ahab with Jezebel, Ethbaal’s daughter, the king of Tyre.” ⁵ The prophet Jeremiah condemns the sins of Judah – erecting sacrifice altars to burn their sons and daughters in the fire. (Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5 – “and they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart”).

God commanded His people to not follow “the abomination of the heathen” from the country which He would give them (Leviticus 18:3, 21; 20:2 – “After the doing of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doing of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances”; “And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.” “Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.”), but the people didn’t listen. (Ahaz – 2 Kings 16:3; Manasseh – 2 Kings 21:6 “And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger”).

In fact, child sacrifice was a current practice of the Canaanites from the third and second millennium B.C. and archeological excavations from Gezer (near modern Ramla, Israel) revealed children’s bones, calcified half way, used in the construction of foundations for homes.⁶

In Genesis the episode in which God commanded Abraham “take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of” is explained in great detail. The episode typified with unrivalled force the profound significance of faith. Abraham was not preparing himself to sacrifice his child for a certain result, like Mesha, the Canaanite did. The king of the Moabites sacrificed his eldest son in order to gain the victory. (2 King 3:27 – “Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.”) Abraham was bound to God by faith, he did not doubt the holiness, perfection and almighty power of his God. He did not understand the full significance of the act that God asked of him. Only God knew the significance and value of this symbol, which for most others, must have seemed only like the crimes of the heathen. He did not fulfil a Canaanite ritual because he did not have a goal and did not understand the significance of his act. On the other hand his faith ensured that it was not about a crime. (James 2:23 – “And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God”)

“He might have pleaded that age should excuse him from obedience. But the patriarch did not take refuge in any of these excuses. Abraham was human; his passion and attachments were like ours; but he did not stop to question how the promise could be fulfilled if Isaac should be slain. He did not stay to reason with his aching heart. He knew that God is just and righteous in all his requirements, and he obeyed the command to the very letter.” ⁷

“The ram offered in the place of Isaac represented the Son of God, who was to be sacrificed in our stead.” ⁸ God wanted to show to the fallen world that forgiveness can not be obtained through human sacrifices, that only “perfect obedience can be accepted”. And much more God wanted them to understand that animal sacrifice was a type of the true Sacrifice which human sacrifice could not substitute.

“Heavenly beings were witnesses of the scene as the faith of Abraham and the submission of Isaac were tested. The trial was far more severe than that which had been brought our first parents…” ⁹

Among other “abominations” which Solomon made before God was to love many strange women that caused him to sin and one of them was even the daughter of Pharaoh – from the XIX dynasty, (1Kings 11:1 – “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;”), to worship Astarte (1 King 11:5 – “For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Micol the abomination of the Ammonites”), he erected altars on high places for Molech and Chemosh. (1King 11:7 – “Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.”).

The god Chemosh is the main god of Moab; he is mentioned eight times in the Old Testament. They brought human sacrifices to him and this is certified by the burning of his son, Mesha (2 Reigi 3:27) and the writing from the stela of Mesha, king of Moab. The Mesha Inscription describes the revolt of Mesha after the death of Ahab (2 Reigi 3) and in lines 14-18 he was speaking about the human sacrifices devoted to Chemosh:

“And Chemosh said to me: ‘Go! Take Nebo against Israel.’ And I went by night and fought against it from break of dawn till noon. And I took it and slew all: 7,000 men, boys, women, girls, and pregnant women, because I devoted it to Ashtar-Chemosh. And I took thence the altar-hearths of YHWH and I dragged them before Chemosh” (lines 14-18).¹⁰

Modern Child Sacrifices

Of course, for us it is very difficult to understand the Phoenician thinking, their mysticism, going to the extreme cruelty toward innocent children. Today, the research from psychology, biology and education show that: “The baby depends completely on his mother. The mother is the absolute pedagogue. The child identifies with her… Both the mother and child are making up not only a biological unit, but also an educational unit, in which both are influencing reciprocally. Any dysfunction in the mother-child relation, in the communication between them, might generate delays and perturbations in the psychological development of child and in the emotional and moral development of mother.” ¹¹

“If the parents show calm, equilibrium and affection, the growth of the child is influenced positively toward the same characteristics: trusting, equilibrium, and affection. If the persons around him offer insecurity and indifference, distrust and fear will persist as basic structures of his personality.

The deficit of care, stimulation and affection might transform the child into an uncertain, anxious and mistrustful adult.” ¹² Concerning spiritual development Ellen White wrote: “Parents, for Christ’s sake do not blunder in your most important work, that of moulding the characters of your children for time and for eternity. An error on your part in neglect of faithful instruction, or in the indulgence of that unwise affection, which blinds your eyes to their defects and prevents you from giving them proper restraint, will prove their ruin. Your course may give a wrong direction to all their future career. You determine for them what they will be and what they will do for Christ, for men, and for their own souls.

“Deal honestly and faithfully with your children. Work bravely and patiently. Fear no crosses, spare no time or labour, burden or suffering. The future of your children will testify the character of your work. Fidelity to Christ on your part can be better expressed in the symmetrical character of your children than in any other way. They are Christ’s property, bought with His own blood. If their influence is wholly on the side of Christ they are His co-labourers, helping others to find the path of life. If you neglect your God-given work, your unwise course of discipline places them among the class who scatter from Christ and strengthen the kingdom of darkness.” ¹³

At the end of this subject about what the Phoenician world was, I have to mention that there are many other things concerning the Phoenician life and their customs that we can perhaps look at in another article. May God bless you! Amen

Lavinia Stanculeasa, Romania
Student: History & Classic Languages.

Bibliography:

Constantin Daniel, Phoenician civilization, Sport-Universe Press, Bucharest, 1979.
Diodorus from Sicily, History.
Eisenberg, Josy, A history of Hebrews, Humanitas
Press, Bucharest, 1992.
Frantev, I. P., I.M. Diakonov, G.F. Iliin, S.V. Kiseliov, V.V. Struve, Universal History, vol. I-II, Scientist Press, Bucharest, 1959.
Herodot, History.
Huf, Hans-Christian, Sphinx, the mysteries of history, vol. 3-4, Saeculum Press, Bucharest, 2000. Original title Sphinx. Geheimnisse der Geschichte, 3, Von Ramses II. bis zum Ersten Kaiser von China; 4, Von Richard Löwenherz bis Casanova, Gustav Lübbe Verlag GmbH, Bergisch
Gladbach., 1998-1999.
Maciuc, Irina, Elements of differential psycho-pedagogic, Didactic and Pedagogic Press, Bucharest,
2000
Sabatino Moscati, The Phoenicians world, Meridiane
Press, Bucharest, 1975.
White, Ellen, G., Patriarchs and Prophets.
Eadem, Testimonies, vol. 5.

—————————————

1. Sabatino Moscati, The Phoenician world, p. 6.
2. Phoenician colony founded in 814 BC in North Africa (today Tunis, Tunisia) by queen Dido (Elissa), the sister of Tyre’s king, Pygmalion.
3. Diodorus fom icily, History, XX, 6-7
4. Hans-Christian Huf, Sphinx, the mysteries of history, vol. 3-4, The publishing house “Saeculum”, Bucharest, 2000, p. 281. Original title Sphinx. Geheimnisse der Geschichte, 3, Von Ramses II. bis zum Ersten Kaiser von China; 4, Von Richard Löwenherz bis Casanova, Gustav Lübbe Verlag GmbH, Bergisch Gladbach., 1998-1999.
5. Ibidem, p.281.
6. Constantin Daniel, Phoenician civilization, Bucharest, 1979, p. 259.
7. Elle G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 108.
8. Ibid, p. 109.
9. Ibid, p. 110.
10. “The stela of Mesha, discovered in 1868 then brought back by Clermmont-Ganneau in 1873, carries an inscription of thirty-four lines in Moabite, a script close to ancient Phoenician. The text commemorates the defeat inflicted on the kingdom of Israel after the death of Achab, shortly before 842 BC. The stela was erected at Dibân, capital of Moab, par Mesha, son of Kamoshyat, King of Moab.” – Louvre
11. Irina Maciuc, Elements of differential psycho-pedagogic, chapter “The new-born and the first year of life”, Didactic and Pedagogic Press, Bucharest, 2000 p.48.
12. Ibidem, p. 47.
13. Ellen White, Testimonies, vol. 5, chapter “Training of children” pp. 39-40.