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The notion of Dagon's fishy form seems to rest entirely on an etymological basis on the fact, i.e. that dag means "fish," in Hebrew. In Assyrian, however, kha is "fish," and not dag; while in Hebrew, though dag is "fish," dagan is "corn." It may be noted also that the Phoenician remains contain no representation of a fish deity.
We may, therefore, fix upon the ninth century as the terminus for the Dagan cult in Assyria. Proper names compounded with Dagan do not occur after the days of Ashurnasirbal. Shamash. He calls Shamash the 'protecting deity, but the protection vouchsafed by Shamash is to be understood in a peculiar sense. Shamash does not work by caprice.
Thou didst tear open their intestines, and cause the stream to carry them off. Dagan is here used for Bel, and the phrase 'servitors of Anu and Dagan' embraces the inhabitants of Babylon. Marduk, the lord of Babylon, is enraged at the sight, but apparently is powerless. The great lord Marduk saw it and cried "Alas!" His senses left him. A violent curse issued from his mouth.
Dagan speaks of the issue of a lumbricoid from the external auditory meatus. Laughton reports an instance of lumbricoid in the nose. Rake speaks of asphyxia from a round-worm. Morland mentions the ejection of numerous lumbricoid worms from the mouth.
It seems to me that the addition which emphasizes this identity of Bel with another god, Dagan, is to indicate that the Bel of the triad, and not Bel-Marduk, is here meant. 'Governor of Bel' for governor of Babylonia, and 'subjects of Bel' for subjects of Babylonia. See p. 89 and chapter vii. Rassam, Cylinder ix. 75. See chapter xii., "The Assyrian Pantheon," p. 208.
But," they pointedly remark, evidently smarting under some rather trying recollections, "when they came to know the Britons, they supposed the Scots must be superior. Unfortunately, experience had dissipated that hope. Dagan in Britain, and Columban in Gaul, had shewn them that the Scots did not differ from the Britons in their habits.
The future additions to the list, it is safe to assert, will increase the second class and only slightly modify, if at all, the first class. Bearing in mind this distinction we may put down as active forces in Assyria the following: Anu, Ashur, Bel, Belit, Gula, Dagan, Ea, Khani, Ishtar, Marduk, Nabu, Nergal, Ninib, Nusku, Ramman, Sin, Shala, Shamash, Tashmitum.
In this way he evidently distinguished the god of Nippur from Bel-Marduk, similarly as Hammurabi in one place adds Dagan to Bel, to make it perfectly clear what god he meant.
Sanchoniathon affirms that Dagon or Dagan, one of the grandsons of Thaut, had the control of corn in Phoenicia. Well, his Thaut is of about the same time as our Jared. From this it results that corn is very old, and that it is of the same antiquity as grass. Perhaps this Dagon was the first man to make bread, but that is not demonstrated.
Although occurring in Babylonia as early as the days of Hammurabi, and indeed earlier, it would appear that his worship was imported from the north into the south. At all events, it is in the north that the cult of Dagan rises to prominence. The resemblance can hardly be entirely accidental.
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