View source for Shahar (god)

{{Short description|Canaanite dawn deity}}
{{About||the moshav in Israel|Shahar, Israel|the Israeli triathlete|Shachar Sagiv}}

{{Infobox deity
| type = Canaanite
| name = Shahar
| god_of = God of dawn
| image = 
| caption = 
| parents = [[El (deity)|El]] (father) [[Asherah]] (mother)
| siblings= [[Shalim]]
}}
{{Fertile Crescent myth (Levantine)}}
'''Shahar''' "[[Dawn]]" is a god in [[Ugaritic religion|Ugaritic]] and [[Canaanite religion]] first mentioned in inscriptions found in [[Ugarit]] (now Ras Shamra, [[Syria]]).<ref name=Golan>Golan, 2003, p. 82. "The name of the Canaanite deity of the setting sun Salim, or Salem, [...] The names [of Sahar and Salim] are rendered in modern scholarly texts as Shakhar and Shalim [...]"</ref>

[[William F. Albright]] identified [[Shalim]] as the god of the dusk and Shahar as the god of the dawn.<ref name=Albrightp187>{{cite book | last=Albright | first=W.F. | title=Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths | publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press | series=G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series | year=1994 | isbn=978-0-931464-01-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qa2AMXzHUAwC&pg=PA187|page=187}}; cf. the Akkadian word for sunset, ''šalām šamši''.</ref>

Shahar and Salim are the twin children of [[El (deity)|El]]. As the markers of dawn and dusk, Shahar and Shalim also represented the temporal structure of the day.<ref name=Hinnells>{{cite book|last=Hinnells|first=John R.|title=A Handbook of Ancient Religions|year=2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|page=122}}</ref>

The names Shahar and Shalim are masculine (although [[Shahar]] in modern Hebrew is a [[unisex name]]), and it appears the gods are as well.

==Name==

===Hebrew===
Sutton recently says the word {{lang|he|שחר}} is used 43 times in the Tanakh. These include 23 as a noun (dawn, tomorrow, the morning star) 6 adjectivally (black) 12 as a [[Derived stem|piʿel verb]] ("to seek, to desire") or [[Qal (linguistics)|qal]] ("to become black" or "to be intent on"). "This indicates that within the etymology of {{lang|he|שחר}} in the [[Hebrew Bible]] it is primarily used as a primary noun (sometimes) descriptive of the god or goddess Shachar."<ref>(Ruppert 2004:576)</ref>

===Arabic===
In [[Arabic]], the word ''saḥar'' ({{lang|ar|سحر}}) refers to the predawn period and comes from the same [[Semitic root]]. This root is also visible in ''[[suhur|suḥūr]]'' ({{lang|ar|سحور}}), the predawn meal [[Muslims]] eat during [[Ramadan]].

===Etymology===
Hebrew ''šaḥar'' is a primary noun. The [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''šēru(m)'' II and the dialectal [[Akkadian language#Dialects|Assyrian]] form ''šiāru(m)'', meaning ‘morning,’ argue against a verbal derivation since the substantival form ''pirâs'' only generates primary nouns. Furthermore, [[Old South Arabian]] ''śaḥar'', which means "dawn, daybreak", does not suggest a causative form. Variations found in Qumran include Middle Hebrew ''šaḥar'' (1QH4:6: kšḥr, 'like the dawn'; 11QPsa 26:11: establishment of the dawn [''kwn'' [[hiphil]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>; 4Q487 36,1 ''lšḥr'', uncertain); Jewish Aramaic ''šaḥarā'', 'morning dawn, early morning'; Moabite (feminine) ''šḥrt'', compare ''mbqʽ hšḥrt'', 'from daybreak'; Ugaritic ''šḥr'', 'dawn, daybreak', and ''šḥr'' par. ''qdm'', 'east wind'; ''šḥr ʽlmt'', 'from this morning to eternity'; as well as the twin gods ''šḥr wšlm'', 'morning and evening star', and ''ʽm šḥr wšlm šmmh'', 'to ''šḥr'' and ''šlm'' in heaven'; Arabic ''saḥar'', 'time before daybreak, early morning, dawn'. The ancient Arabic god ''Saḥar'', 'dawn, daybreak', is depicted in reliefs with the symbol of the dragon's head.

===Theophorics===
The form ''šaḥar'' also appears as a divine name in personal names, including Ugaritic ''ìlšḥr'' "''šḥr'' is (my) god"; Phoenician ''ʽbdšḥr, šḥrbʽl'',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sutton |first1=Lodewyk |title=The dawn of two dawns: The mythical, royal and temporal implications of dawn for Psalms 108 and 110 |journal=HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies |date=6 November 2017 |volume=73 |issue=3 |pages=7 |doi=10.4102/hts.v73i3.4463 |language=en |issn=2072-8050|doi-access=free |hdl=2263/66078 |hdl-access=free }}{{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}</ref><ref>Ruppert, 2004, p. 576; cf. Sutton, 2011, p. 547.</ref>
Hebrew אחישחר ("brother of Shahar")<ref>1C 7 10</ref> and שחריה ("Yahweh is Shahar.")<ref>1C 8 26</ref><ref>HALOT entry 9524. BRILL
The Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, CD-ROM Edition © 1994-2000 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden</ref>

==Sources==
===Tanakh===
"Traces" of the deity can be found in the canon; [[HALOT]] 9524 names Isaiah 14:12, Psalm 139:9, Job 3:9 and 41:10.

====Isaiah 14:12–15====
[[Isaiah 14:12]]–15 has been the origin of the belief that [[Satan]] was a [[fallen angel]], who could also be referred to as [[Lucifer]].<ref name=Day>{{cite book|last=Day|first=John|title=Yahweh and the gods and goddesses of Canaan|year=2002|page=166|publisher=Sheffield Academic Press|location=London|isbn=9780567537836}}</ref> It refers to the rise and disappearance of the [[Venus in culture|morning star Venus]] in the phrase "O Shining One, son of Dawn!" ({{langx|he|הֵילֵל בֶּן־שָׁחַר|Hēlēl ben Shāḥar|exalted one, son of Shāḥar}}, translated as Lucifer in the [[Vulgate]] and preserved in the early English translations of the Bible.)<ref name=Day/>

This understanding of {{bibleverse|Isaiah|14:12–15|NKJV}} seems to be the most accepted interpretation in the [[New Testament]], as well as among [[early Christians]] such as [[Origen]], [[Eusebius]], [[Tertullian]], and [[Pope Gregory I]].<ref name=Day/> It may be considered a Christian "remythologization" of [[Isaiah 14]], as the verse originally used [[Canaanite religion]] to build its imagery of the [[hubris]] of a historical ruler, "the king of Babylon" in Isaiah 14:4.<ref name=Day/>

The role of Venus as the morning star was taken by [[ʿAṯtar]], in this instance referred to as "son of Shāḥar".<ref name=Day2>{{cite book|last=Day|first=John|title=Yahweh and the gods and goddesses of Canaan|year=2002|page=171|publisher=Sheffield Academic Press|location=London|isbn=9780567537836}}</ref> The reference to Shāḥar remains enigmatic to scholars, who have a wide range of theories on the mythological framework and sources for the passage in Isaiah.<ref name=Poirier>{{cite journal|last=Poirier|first=John|title=An Illuminating Parallel to Isaiah XIV 12|journal=Vetus Testamentum|date=1 July 1999|volume=49|issue=3|pages=371–389|doi=10.1163/156853399774228047}}</ref>

===Ugarit===
====KTU 1.23====
The conception and birth of Šaḥar-w-Šalim<ref>KTU 1.23 on page 68 gives šḥr.w šlm with ''ḥ'' on line 52 and šhr.w šlm with ''h'' on line 54</ref> are found here. The story fits on one tablet without being cramped.

There is a short invocation of the gods. A ''mt w šr''<ref>Motu- or Mutu-wa-Sharru (A few significations are available to Pardee, like a single being called "death and leader")</ref> joins, and appears to harvest grapes with a "staff of widowhood." Pardee makes room for others' suggestions of circumcision imagery.<ref>Dennis Pardee, The Context of Scripture I.87, DAWN AND DUSK (The Birth of the Gracious and Beautiful Gods)</ref>

There's another invocation. Two women, apparently human worshipers, entice El. He seduces them, after a hunting ritual in which he roasts a bird he shot out of the air. In time they give birth to Šaḥar-w-Šalim, whom the goddess nurses. Hungry, they have their lips at the birds of the sky and fish of the sea.

==== RS 24.244 ([[Keilalphabetische Texte aus Ugarit|KTU]]<sup>2</sup> 1.100) Ugaritic liturgy against venomous reptiles<!-- wikidata: Q123588420 --> ====
Message to Šaḥru-wa-Šalimu<ref>Pardee, Dennis | COS 1.94</ref>
<blockquote>
She again calls to her mother [[Šapšu]]:

Mother Šapšu, take a message

to Šaḥru-wa-Šalimu in the heavens:20

My incantation for serpent bite,

for the scaly serpent's poison:

From it, O charmer, destroy,

from it cast out the venom.

Then he binds the serpent,

feeds the scaly serpent,

draws up a chair and sits.
</blockquote>

==See also==
{{Portal|Mythology|Asia}}
* [[Phosphorus (morning star)]]
* [[Shamash]]
* [[Asherah]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091026224536/http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/2938/ShShrit.html  The Ancient Ugaritic Ritual-Poem of Shahar and Shalem and the Gracious Gods]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Children of El (deity)]]
[[Category:Dawn]]
[[Category:Deities in the Hebrew Bible]]
[[Category:Phoenician mythology]]
[[Category:Ugaritic deities]]
[[Category:Venusian deities]]
[[Category:West Semitic gods]]
[[Category:KTU texts]]
[[Category:Canaanite religion]]