We know for certain of but one Moabite divinity as of but one Ammonite. Chemosh appears to have held the same place as Molech, although our infor mation respecting him is less full. Moab was the ` people of Chemosh' (Num. xxi. 29 ; Jer. xlviii. 46), and Chemosh was doomed to captivity with his priests and princes ( Jer. xlviii. 7). In one place Chemosh is spoken of as the god of the king of the children of Ammon, whom Jephthah con quered (Judg. xi. 24); but it is to be remarked that the cities held by this king, which Jephthah took, were not originally Ammonite, and were appa rently claimed as once held by the Moabites (21-26; comp. Num. xxi. 23-3o), so that at this time Moab and Amnion were probably united, or the Ammonites ruled by a Moabite chief. The etymology of Che-. mosh is doubtful, but it is clear that he was dis tinct from Molech. There is no positive tmce of the cruel rites of the idol of the Ammonites, and it is unlikely that the settled Moabites should have had the same savage disposition as their wild brethren on the north. There is, however, a general re semblance in the regal character assigned to both idols and their solitary position. Chemosh, there fore, like Molech, was probably a form of Baal. l3oth tribes appear to have had other idols, for we read of the worship, by the Israelites, of the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon' (Judg. x. 6) ; but as there are other plurals in the passage, it is possible that this may be a general expression. Yet in saying this we do not mean to suggest that there was any monothcistic form of Canaanite idolatry. There is some difficulty in ascertairLig whether Baal-Peor, or Peor, was a Moabite idol. The Israelites, while encamped at Shittim, were seduced by the women of Moab and Midian, and joined them in the worship of Baal-Peor. There is no notice of anv later in stance of this idolatry. It seems, therefore, not to have been national to Moab, and if so, it may have been borrov,-ed, and Midianite, or else local, and Canaanite. The former idea is snpported by the apparent connection of prostitution, even of women of rank, with the worship of Baal-Peor, which would not have been repugnant to the pagan Arabs ; the latter finds some support in the name Shittim, the acacias,' as though the place had its name from some acacias sacred to Baal, and, more over, we have no certain instance of the application of the name of Baal to any non-Canaanite divi nity. Had such vile worship as was probably that of Baal-Peor been national in Moab, it is most un likely that David would have been on very friendly terms with a Moabite king.
The Philistine idolatry is connected with that of Canaan, although it has peculiarities of its own, which are indeed so strong that it may be questioned whether it is entirely or even mainly derived from the Canaanite source. At Ekron, Baal-zebub was worshipped, and had a temple, to which Ahaziah, the wicked son of Ahab, sent to inquire. This name means either the lord of the fly,' or l3aal the fly.' It is generally held that he was wor shipped as a driver away of flies, but we think it more probable that some venomous fly was sacred to him. The use of the term Baal is indicative of a connection with the Canaanite system. The national divinity of the Philistines seems, however, to have been Dagon, to whom there were temples at Gaza and at Ashdod, and the general character of whose worship is evident in such traces as we observe in the names Caphar-Dagon, near Jamnia, and Beth-Dagon, the latter applied to two places, one in Judah and the other in Asher. The deri vation of the name Dagon, Pri, as that of a fish god, is from n, a fish.' Gesenius considers it a diminutive, little fish,' used by way of endearment and honour (Thes.s.v.), but this is surely hazardous. Dagon was represented as a man with the tail of a fish. There can be no doubt that he was connected with the Canaanite system, as Derceto or Atargatis, the same as Ashtoreth, was worshipped under a like mixed shape at Ashkelon (aiirn ra tag, irp6cranrov gxec yupaur6s, T6 6' etXXo o-Auct rap ixthios, Diod. Sic. ii. 4). In form he is the sante as the
Assyrian god supposed to correspond to the planet Saturn. The house of Dagon at Gaza, which Samson overthrew, must have been veiy large, for about 3000 men and women then assembled on its roof. It had two principal, if not only, pillars, in the midst, between which Samson was placed and was seen by the people on the roof. The inner portion of some of the ancient Egyptian temples consisted of a hyptliral hall, supported by two or more pillars, and inner chambers. The overthrow of these pillars would bring down the stone roof of the hall, and destroy all persons be neath or upon it, without necessarily overtirowing the side-walls.
The idolatry of the Pheenicians is not spoken of in the Bible. From their inscriptions and the statements of profane authors, we learn that this nation worshipped Baal and Ashtoreth. The de tails of their worship will be spoken of in the art. PFICENICIA.
Syrian idols are mentioned in a few places in Scripture. Tammuz, whom the women of Israel lamented, is no doubt Adonis, whose worship im plies that of Astarte or Ashtoreth. Rimmon, who appears to have been the chief divinity of the Syrian kings ruling at Damascus, may, if his name signifies high' (from 1:n1), be a local form of Baal, who, as the sun-god, had a temple at the great Syrian city Heliopolis, now called Baalabekk.
The book of Job, which, whatever its date, represents a primitive state of society, speaks of cosmic worship as though it was practised in his country, Idumxa or northern Arabia. If I beheld a sun when it shined, or a splendid moon pro gressing, and my heart were secretly enticed, and my hand touched my mouth, surely this [were] a depravity of judgment, for I should have denied God above' (xxxi. 26-28). See the Genesis. of the Earth and of Man, 2d ed., p. 184. This evidence is important in connection with that of the ancient prevalence of cosmic worship in Arabia, and that of its practice by some of the later kings of Judah, If we take a retrospect of this evidence as to the ancient idolatries of the Canaanites and the nations immediately surrounding them, we perceive the cor rectness of the principle with which we commenced this part of die inquiry, that the centre of Palestinian idolatry is to be sought for in the religion of the Rephaite and Canaanite races. Local influences may have affected the varieties of this system • the Philistines, as a people of the sea-coast, may'have preferred an inferior sea-god for their chief divinity, the softer races may have chosen the corrupt rites of the consort of Baal for their main worship, the more savage may have sought only to please Baal with the cruel sacrifice of children, yet throughout the region we find nothin,g distinctly separate and different, neither bare fetishism on the one hand, nor unmixed cosmic worship on the other. If we might venture to resolve this religion into its primi tive elements, we should assign the fetishism to the Rephaite races, and the other element, mainly high nature-worship, to the Canaanites. This may seem fatal to our theory that high nature-worship in the religion of Babylonia and Assyria is the Aryan ele ment, but it must be recollected that we do not know at what time and through what conflict or mixture of races, the second element of Palestinian idolatry was introduced. There arc points of resemblance between the idolatry of Palestine and that of Assyria and Babylonia, which prove a common origin in their cosmic element ; but, on the other hand, there are differences, which show either that the contact was extremely remote, or that in Pales tine a complex system was greatly modified.