Hammon

The King of the Gods of Carthage

**Hammon** was the chief god of the pantheon worshipped in Carthage, as well as being a deity of weather and vegetation. His consort is the lioness goddess Tanit.

## Overview

Baal Hammon was a weather god considered responsible for the fertility of vegetation and esteemed as King of the Gods. He was known as the Chief of the pantheon of Carthage and the deity that made vegetation grow.

The worship of Baʿal Hammon flourished in the Phoenician colony of Carthage. His supremacy among the Carthaginian gods is believed to date to the fifth century BC, after relations between Carthage and Tyre were broken off at the time of the Battle of Himera.

As with most deities of Carthage, he was seemingly propitiated with child sacrifice, likely in times of strife or crisis, or only by elites, perhaps for the good of the whole community. This practice was recorded by Greeks and Romans, but dismissed as propaganda by modern scholars, until archeologists unearthed urns containing the cremated remains of infants in places of ritual sacrifice. Some scholars believe this confirms the accounts of child sacrifice, while others insist these are the remains of children who died young.

## Appearance

He was depicted as a bearded older man with curling ram's horns. He is flanked by sphinxes and wears a crown.

## Personality

Compared to the others deities that hold the title of Baal, most who are usually amoral, Hammon appears more antagonistic and malevolent in his dealings.

## Myths and Legends

### Etymology

He is clearly identified as one of the Phoenician deities covered under the name of Baal. However, the meaning of his second name is unclear. Frank Moore Cross argued for a connection to Hamōn, the Ugaritic name for Mount Amanus, a peak in the Nur Mountains which separate Syria from Cilicia. In the 19th century, when Ernest Renan excavated the ruins of Hammon (Ḥammon), the modern Umm al-‘Awamid between Tyre and Acre, he found two Phoenician inscriptions dedicated to El-Hammon.

Others have proposed Hammon as a syncretic association with Libyan-Egyptian god Amun, while a last current has called instead for a connection with the Northwest Semitic word ḥammān ("brazier"), suggesting the sense "Lord of the Brazier".

### Equivalents

He has been identified with a solar deity, although Yigael Yadin thought him to be a moon god. Edward Lipinski identifies him with the god Dagon. In Carthage and North Africa Baʿal Hammon was especially associated with the ram and was worshiped also as Baʿal Qarnaim ("Lord of Two Horns") in an open-air sanctuary at Jebel Boukornine ("the two-horned hill") across the bay from Carthage, in Tunisia.

The interpretatio graeca identified him with the Titan Cronus. In ancient Rome, he was identified with Saturn, and the cultural exchange between Rome and Carthage as a result of the Second Punic War may have influenced the development of the festival of Saturnalia. Attributes of his Romanized form as an African Saturn indicate that Hammon (Amunus in Philo's work) was a fertility god.

## Quotes

* *"Hummus? You mean like the vegetable dip?"* - An unnamed hunter.
	+ *"No, not Hummus. "Hammon". The god, not a bloody dipping sauce, you dumbass."* - Matt Wright.

* *"Some sort of agriculture god was worshipped here. Based on the engravings on the wall, it's possibly Ba'al Hammon, the Carthage weather god who also presides over domains of fertility and vegetation."* - Matt Wright after seeing an engraving of Hammon.

## Gallery

*A Sculpture of Hammon**A statue of Baʿal Hammon on his throne with a crown and flanked by sphinges**An incense burner depicting Ba'al-Hamon*

## Image Sources

* (Baal Hammon.jpg) Baal Hammon by Sjonge
* (Hammon.jpg) Hammon Sculpture from ???
* (Terracotta statue of Baal-Hammon on a throne AvL.jpg) Terra cotta statue of Baal-Hammon seated on his throne from the Bardo National Museum
* (Incense burner depicting Baal-Hammon AvL.jpg) Incense burner depicting Baal-Hammon from the Carthage National Museum