Talk:Melqart

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I heard that the actual columns of the Melqart temple at Gadir were reinterpreted as the Columns of Hercules. If they are like those at Tyros, it's understandable that they made it into myth. Can somebody talk about the Gadir columns? --Error 01:42, 20 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Why is the Phoenician backwards? 𐤕𐤓𐤒𐤊𐤋𐤌 should be 𐤌𐤋𐤊𐤒𐤓𐤕 as it's written right to left. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.215.45.244 (talk) 00:11, 16 March 2018 (UTC)

I've changed Wetman's identification of Melqart as a dying and rising god from definite to maybe to be more NPOV. Secondary sources often agree with Wetman, but early specular is drenched in solar theory and later speculation in vegetation god theory. Primary sources are vague. It is possible that the "awakening" festival was really more an awakening of summer without indicating the Melqart himself was generally conceived as a dying and reviving god. Apollo also went away in the winter according to the Delphi cult and returned in the spring. Melqart's revival from death by smelling a roasted quail indicates a resurrection in one tale, but it is unlikely that in this story Melqart was dead for an entire season. The humorous tone of this story sounds more like what might be called mummer-play mythology, in which St. George dies and is almost immediately revived in a folky and humorous context. It might or might not have something to do with the "awakening" festival and might be central to the Melqart cult or simply a trivial motif in a tale. Religious motifs do get transformed into straightforward adventure story motifs. The truth is we don't really know anything much about Melqart and experience suggests that at least some of the Greek evidence would turn out to be very misleading if we did know the full truth. As an example, the first thing Diodorus Siculus tells us about Osiris is that Osiris is a sun god!!!

Wetman's addition about Melqart's cult largely superceding that of Eshmun indicated that the cult of Melqart originated in Tyre, I think unintentionally, since of course we hardly know where any particular god or goddess actually originated. Changed to indicate the cult is first known to us in Tyre. jallan 01:54, 19 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I was told to merge my article on Hannibal and Melqart with this article I tried my best to fit it appropriately, feel free people to rearrange its positioning. By the way this article on Melqart rocks I struggle to find information on the subject but this is superb, great job!!! user:king Alaric


 * Can you cite any sources for the story of Hannibal's vision? Krunkers 00:47, 17 Jan 2008 (UTC)

-I was wandering (maybe this is not so relevant, but more of a trivia question) wether the name Melqart was the inspiration for Tolkiens Melkor. Both seem to share some characteristics besides the obvious name resemblace...Thoughts anyone? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.168.113.79 (talk) 23:24, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

Melqart
i was going thro the aticle, when it struck me. has the name melqart to do anything with the milky way, which is the abode of vishnu, the hindu God? well it's just a wild guess, and somehow it came to me, after a huge treasure was discovered at "thiru anantha puram" or " the city of anantha ( the serpant) on whom Lord Vishnu reclines. my wild guess is that just before the destruction of Solomon's temple, by nebuccadanezzar, the entire treasure was transferred here for some reasons by the LORD. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Geevrghese (talk • contribs) 16:32, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Hannibal and Melqart
I've amended the references in this section to avoid citation tags. Livy says Hannibal went to the temple of Hercules and the youth was sent from Jupiter. The association is obvious, but we really need a third reference that makes the link to avoid accusations of OR/synthesis. Fiddlersmouth (talk) 12:01, 10 January 2014 (UTC)

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Solar Deity: Yes / No
I removed the following unsupported statement:

"The Macedonian month of Peritius corresponds to our February, indicating this annual awakening was in no way a solstitial celebration".

Unless a citation can be given that supports the view that Melqart's awakening specifically was not solar in nature, then it is rash (and POV) to so forcefully conclude that the awakening is not solar in nature merely due to the placement of the celebration approximately one lunar cycle (month) out from the winter solstice.

There is no axiom that holds that all solar celebrations need to be within a rigid period of either of the solstices or equinoxes, and the awakening celebration is indeed still proximate to the solstice. Melqart's established association with Heracles should be considered when making a decision on the relative appropriateness of making that definite assertion in the negative (aside from the POV issue itself), given the common association of the Twelve Labors of Heracles with Solar Mythology (through Helios). I believe that the issue should be un-commented on in the article unless a quality citation can be sourced.

Additionally, stating that Peritius "corresponds" to February may be misleading in terms of how that period was viewed for timekeeping or ritual purposes. The latter being the context in which the above removed statement was used. While Peritius was the intercalary month that began in January and indeed extended through February, Peritius is known as the "Moon of January". See the Wiki article here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Macedonian_calendar

In sum, It does't do the Melqart article a service to engage in conjecture in regard to how these periods were viewed for ritual purpose or in regard to what these periods might imply in terms of mythological meaning (again, without citations). Milner33 (talk) 11:34, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

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Melqart ~ King of The Earth
I have removed the etymology given above from the article. It was unsourced (unlike the etymology given afterwards, that it comes from "King of the City"), and is false on its face. The Phoenician for king of the earth would be mlk-ʕrṣ. Merging the kaf and ayin into a qof isn't too implausible, although simplifying an lk-q cluster to lq is even certainly more plausible (Phoenician only allowing clusters of up to two phonemes), but tsade appearing as a tav is not otherwise attested and unlikely given the general good preservation of the phoneme. Tristanjlroberts (talk) 12:04, 28 November 2021 (UTC)