IIERAKLES (`Hprua4s) is mentioned in 2 Mac cab. iv. 1 9, as the Tyrian god to whom the Jewish high-priest Jason sent a religious embassy (0Ecopoi), with the offering of 3oo drachmx of silver. That this Tyrian Hercules (Herod. ii. 44) is the same as the Tyrian Baal, is evident from a bilingual Phceni cian inscription found at Malta (described by Ge senius, AIonunt. Ling. Phan. i. 96), in which the Phcenician words, To our Lord, to Melkarth, the Baal of Tyre,' are represented by the Greek 'Hpatr XeZ 'Apnylri. Moreover, Herakles and Astarte are mentioned together by Josephus (Antiq. viii. 5. 3), just in the same manner as Baal and Ashto reth are in the Old Testament. The further iden tity of this Tyrian Baal with the Baal whom the idolatrous Israelites worshipped, is evinced by the following arg,uments, as stated chiefly by Moven; (Die Ph5nizier, 17S). The worship of Baal, which prevailed in the time of the Judges, was put down by Samuel (I Sam. vii. 4), and the effects of that suppression appear to have lasted through the next few centuries, as Baal is not enumerated among the idols of Solomon (1 Kings xi. 5-8 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 13), nor among, those worshipped in Judah (2 Kings xxiii. 12), or in Samaria, where we only read of the golden calves of Jeroboam (1 Kings xii. 28 ; xv. 26). That worship of Baal which prevailed in the reign of Ahab, cannot, therefore, be regarded as a mere continuation or revival of the old Canaanite idolatry (although there is no reason to doubt the essential identity of both Baals), but was introduced directly from Phcenicia by Ahab's marriage with the Sidonian princess Jezebel (1 Kings xvi. 31). In like man ner, the establishment of this idolatry in Judah is ascribed to the marriage of the king with a daughter of Jezebel. (Comp. Josephus, Antiq. viii. 13. i; ix. 6. 6.) The power of nature, which was worshipped un der the form of the Tyrian Hercules, Melkarth, Baal, Adonis, Moloch, and whatever his other names are, was that which originates, sustains, and destroys life. These functions of the Deity,
according to the Phcenicians, were represented, although not exclusively, by the sun, the influence of which both animates vegetation by its genial warmth, and scorches it up by its fervour.
Almost all that we know of the worship of the Tyrian Hercules is preserved by the classical writers, and relates chiefly to the Phcenician colo nies, and not to the mother-state. The eagle, the lion, and the thunny-fish, were sacred to him, and are often found on Phcenician coins. Pliny ex pressly testifies that human sacrifices were offered up every year to the Carthaginian Hercules (Hist. Nat. xxxvi. v. 12); which coincides with what is stated of Baal in Jer. xix. 5, and with the acknow ledged worship of Moloch.
Movers endeavours to shew that Herakles and Hercules are not merely Greek and Latin syno nymes for this god, but that they are actually de rived from his true Phcenician name. This original name he supposes to have consisted of the syllables 'IN (as found in 4-1N, /ion, and in other words), meaning strong-, and from to conquer ; so that the compound means Ar conquers. This har monizes with what he conceives to be the idea represented by Hercules as the destroyer of Typho nic monsters (/. c. p. 43o). Melkarth, the IlleXI Kapeor of Sanchoniathon, occurs on coins only in the form rrrhn. We must in this case assume that a kaph has been absorbed, and resolve the word into Nnip king of the city, 7roNcorixos.
The bilingual inscription renders it by ' Apxyy17-71s ; and it is a title of the god as the patron of the city.—J. N.