Melkart

King of the City

ALSO KNOWN AS:

Melquart; Tyrian Heracles; Ba’al Melqart

ORIGIN:

Phoenician; Canaanite

Melkart, chief deity of the city-state Tyre, now in modern Lebanon, was venerated across the Mediterranean coast of Europe and North Africa, especially in Carthage. He is lord of the sea and sky, credited with discovering the Tyrian purple dye extracted from mollusks, from which Phoenicia made her fortune. (Alternatively the dye was discovered by Melkart’s lover, the Nymph Tyros, or his dog.) The earliest known written reference to Melkart derives from the ninth century BCE. Hannibal is Melkart’s most famous devotee.

Ba’al Melkart may or may not be the same Ba’al that the prophets railed against in the Old Testament. His great temple in Tyre served as the architectural prototype for Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. The Greeks and Romans identified him with Heracles. Heracles was also widely venerated—references to him in Phoenician areas or formerly Phoenician areas may refer to the Greek deity or to Melkart.

MANIFESTATION:

He resembles classical images of Heracles—a huge, powerful man.

Consort: Astarte, Astronoë, and Tyros are among the goddesses with whom he is linked

PLANET:

Sun

ELEMENT

Water

COLOUR:

Purple

Animal: Dog

Mount:

Seahorse

SACRED SITES:

In addition to Tyre and Carthage, Melkart had temples in Cadiz, Ibiza, Cartagena, and what is now Cape Saint Vincent, the southwestern-most point in Europe.

SEE ALSO:

Astarte; Ba’al; Heracles; Nymph; Solomon

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses– Written by Judika Illes Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.