Eschmun

Eschmun (Ešmun) is a Phoenician and Carthaginian god of healing. He was the city god of Sidon , but was also venerated in Cyprus and Sardinia . He is considered a handsome youth and as such was associated with Melkart . He was called adon , like many other deities.

According to legend, Eshmoun was a young man from Beirut. The goddess Astarte herself fell in love with him. Eschmun mutilated himself thereupon in order to escape her wooing and died of his injuries. Astarte then brought him back to life - as God. Like Adonis , he was worshiped as the fertility god who dies every year to be reborn. He was also regarded as the god of healing and thus equated with the Greek god of healing Asclepios . Like Asklepios, Eschmun was endowed with the attribute of a staff around which a snake winds. This is attested by a golden plaque that was found near the Eschmun temple near Sidon.

literature

• Eduard Meyer : Esmun . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, column 1385 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Anke Röhl, Andrea Rosebrock: Lebanon. Travel guide. Kronshagen, 1998. ISBN 978-3893922130 .

Web links

• MCA body:  Eschmun. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (Eds.): The Scientific Biblical Lexicon on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff.
• http://www.libanon-info.de/eshmoun.html