5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.
The Canaanite gods were worshipped by the peoples of the Levant, including the Phoenicians, great navigators and traders of the Mediterranean. Headed by El and the storm god Baal, they were honored in cities such as Ugarit, Tyre, and Carthage. Their myths, rediscovered on the Ugarit tablets, closely echo the biblical traditions.
Worship followed Baal's agricultural cycle, with autumn festivals calling for the rains and laments for his descent into the world of the dead. The faithful worshipped at the "high places" (bamot) and in city temples, with stone steles, incense, and animal sacrifices.
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At a glance
Resheph (Eblaite: 𒀭𒊏𒊓𒀊, Rašap; Ugaritic: 𐎗𐎌𐎔, Rašap or Rašpu; Phoenician: 𐤓𐤔𐤐, Ršp; Biblical Hebrew: רֶשֶׁף, Rešep̄; Egyptian: ršpw) is one of the most venerable, intricate, and geographically widespread deities of the ancient Near East, with a documented epigraphic history spanning more than two millennia from the mid-third to the first millennium BCE. First uncovered in the cuneiform archives of Ebla (pre-Sargonic Syria, c. 2400 BCE), Resheph stood as a central figure in the royal pantheon, possessing a designated city gate and monumental sanctuaries in nearby settlements such as Adanni and Tunip, where scribal god lists systematically equated him with the Mesopotamian martial and underworld god Nergal. Throughout the second millennium BCE, he flourished as a major deity in the kingdoms of Ugarit and Emar, bearing prominent epithets including 'Resheph of the Army' (ršp ṣbi) and 'Lord of the Marketplace' across the Hurrian cultural sphere. In the ritual and therapeutic tablets of Ras Shamra, he manifests both as the dread dispatcher of contagious plagues — carrying off royal wives as recounted in the Epic of Keret — and as a benevolent apotropaic physician invoked to eradicate serpent venoms and lethal sorcery. During the Egyptian New Kingdom, particularly under the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties, Resheph was formally integrated into the pharaonic pantheon as a martial patron of royal chariotry and horses, while private domestic devotion at the craftsmen's village of Deir el-Medina venerated him as an accessible healing god ('hearer of prayers') protecting against visceral ailments and malevolent demons. Within the Hebrew Bible, his theonym underwent partial demythologization into a poetic manifestation of burning pestilence marching at the feet of Yahweh (Habakkuk 3:5) or a common noun for fiery bolts, sparks, and arrows.
The bow and arrows, the gazelle, the lightning and the torch
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Family
Resheph
Unions
Adamma (consort goddess in the archaic Eblaite pantheon, receiving joint offerings at Adanni and Tunip)Qetesh / Qadesh (Semitic goddess of fertility and grace, grouped with Resheph and Min in the Ramesside Egyptian votive triad)
Genealogy according to Arquivos administrativos de Ebla (século XXIV a.C., tábuas reais e vocabulário VE 806); Textos rituais, médicos e literários de Ugarit (RS 12.061, RS 19.013, RS 24.247+, Épico de Keret KTU 1.14 I, encantamentos KTU 1.100 e KTU 1.107); Inscrições reais e privadas do Império Novo egípcio (Estela de Amenófis II em Gizé, templo de Amon em Karnak, estelas votivas de Deir el-Medina); Inscrição bilíngue lúvio-fenícia de Karatepe (KAI 26); Inscrições fenícias e bilíngues cipriotas de Idálion e Kition (CIS I 89–95); Textos poéticos da Bíblia Hebraica (Habacuque 3:5; Deuteronômio 32:24; Salmos 78:48; Jó 5:7; Cântico dos Cânticos 8:6); William J. Fulco (1976); Izak Cornelius (1994); Maciej M. Münnich (2013); Paolo Xella (1979); Michael P. Streck (2006)
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Sources and further reading
Primary sources
Royal Scribes of Ebla & Alfonso Archi, Administrative Cuneiform Texts and Vocabulary of Ebla: The Cult of Rašap and the Equivalence with Nergal (VE 806). translation: Critical edition of the Tell Mardikh tablets and academic documentation on the Wikipedia portal. read
Ilimilku of Shubanu & Scribes of Ras Shamra, Ritual and Mythological Cuneiform Tablets of Ugarit: The Epic of Keret and the Sun Guard of Shapash (KTU 1.14 I; RS 12.061). translation: Mission de Ras Shamra and textual catalogue on the Wikipedia portal. read
Pharaonic Scribes of the New Kingdom & Craftsmen of Deir el-Medina, Votive Stelae and Royal Inscriptions of Resheph, Qetesh and Min (Giza Stela and Collection of the Turin Museum). translation: Catalogue of the Egyptian Museum of Turin and iconographic documentation on the Wikipedia portal. read
Azatiwada of Danunim & Royal Scribes, Bilingual Monumental Luwian-Hieroglyphic and Phoenician Inscription of Karatepe (KAI 26). translation: Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum and epigraphic documentation on the Wikipedia portal. read
Biblical Scribes of Israel and Judah, Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible: Archaic Poetry and Warlike Theophany (Habakkuk 3:5; Deuteronomy 32:24; Psalms 78:48). translation: Critical edition of the Bible Society and Hebrew commentaries on the Wikipedia portal. read
Studies
Münnich, Maciej M., The God Resheph in the Ancient Near East. Mohr Siebeck, 2013. open
Fulco, William J., The Canaanite God Rešep. American Oriental Society, 1976. open
Cornelius, Izak, The Iconography of the Canaanite Gods Reshef and Ba'al: Late Bronze and Iron Age I Periods (c 1500–1000 BCE). Universitätsverlag Freiburg / Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1994. open
Xella, Paolo, Le dieu Rashap à Ugarit. Annali dell'Istituto Orientale di Napoli, 1979. open
Streck, Michael P., Reschep. Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie, De Gruyter, 2006. open
Equipe Editorial do Projeto Enciclopédico Wikimedia, Entry Resheph: The God of War and Plague in the Ancient Near East. Wikimedia Foundation, 2026. open
Name and epithets
The West Semitic theonym Resheph is philologically linked to the triconsonantal root r-š-p, which across Northwest Semitic languages denotes 'to kindle', 'to burn with fever', 'flame', or 'fiery spark' (with direct cogn…
In the ancient sources
Royal Cuneiform Archives of Ebla, 24th century BCE (c. 2400–2300 BCE). Earliest documentation of the god, recording a dedicated city gate at Ebla, cult centers at Adanni and Tunip, and lexical equation with Nergal.
The myths
The Gatekeeper of the Sunset and the Celestial Sign of Mars. In the cosmological lore of Ugarit preserved on tablet RS 12.061, Resheph is addressed with the solemn title of gatekeeper and guardian of the sun goddess Sha…
Worship and archaeology
The cult of Resheph exhibited remarkable geographical adaptability across more than two thousand years. At Ebla, the god received royal and civic offerings overseen by official priests (such as Re'i-Malik), including an…
How the god was depicted
Resheph's iconography remains among the most distinctive in Bronze and Iron Age Near Eastern art. The god is consistently portrayed as an active warrior in a dynamic smiting pose, stepping forward with his right arm rai…
What scholars debate
. Scholarly inquiry into Resheph has prompted vibrant debate in ancient Near Eastern studies. A central controversy concerns the primary etymology and functional origin of the deity at Ebla: while most Semitists (includ…
After antiquity
Although biblical monotheism suppressed formal veneration of West Semitic gods, Resheph's cultural resonance endured in Western hermeneutics and Near Eastern archaeology.
Did you know?
The equation of Resheph with Greek Apollo on Cyprus was grounded in shared divine portfolios: both deities were archers who unleashed arrows carrying devastating pestilence against armies, yet both functioned as apotrop…
Codex relic
Bow of the Burning Arrows. The bow with which he shoots plague and fever, yet which can also protect those who revere him.
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