Melqart

Uncommon card · No. 196536

Melqart (Phoenician: 𐤌𐤋𐤒𐤓𐤕, romanized: Mīlqārt) was the tutelary god of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre and a major deity in the Phoenician and Punic pantheons. He may have been central to the founding-myths of various Phoenician colonies throughout the Mediterranean, as well as the source of several myths concerning the exploits of Heracles. Many cities were thought to be founded (in one way or another) and protected by Melqart, no doubt springing from the original Phoenician practice of building a Temple of Melqart at new colonies. Similar to Tammuz and Adonis, he symbolized an annual cycle of death and rebirth. Reflecting his dual role as both protector of the world and ruler of the underworld, he was often shown holding an Ankh or lotus flower as a symbol of life, and a fenestrated axe as a symbol of death. As Tyrian trade, colonization and settlement expanded, Melqart became venerated in Phoenician and Punic cultures across the Mediterranean, especially its colonies of Carthage and...

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