Sydyk (, in some manuscripts ''Sydek'' or ''Sedek'') was the name of a deity appearing in a theogeny provided by Roman-era Phoenician writer

Philo of Byblos Philo of Byblos ( grc, Φίλων Βύβλιος, ''Phílōn Býblios''; la, Philo Byblius; – 141), also known as Herennius Philon, was an antiquarian writer of grammatical, lexical and historical works in Greek. He is chiefly known for ...

in an account preserved by

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...

in his '' Praeparatio evangelica'' and attributed to the still earlier

Sanchuniathon Sanchuniathon (; Ancient Greek: ; probably from Phoenician: , "Sakon has given"), also known as Sanchoniatho the Berytian, was a Phoenician author. His three works, originally written in the Phoenician language, survive only in partial paraphras ...

.van der Toorn, K. et al., ''Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible''. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1996, entry ''Zedeq''

Etymology and role in the Phoenician theogeny

Philo of Byblos gave the Greek meaning of the name as '' Δίκαιον'' "Righteousness", thus indicating that the word corresponds to the Semitic root for "righteousness", ''√ṣdq''. A Phoenician god named ''ṣdq'' is well attested epigraphically; he is also mentioned by

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. Philo's deplo ...

as half of a pair of deities with

Misor Misor was the name of a deity appearing in a theogeny provided by Roman era Phoenician writer Philo of Byblos in an account preserved by Eusebius in '' Praeparatio Evangelica'',van der Toorn, K. et al., ''Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bib ...

(). Sydyk and Misor are described as being born from Amunos and Magos, who were in turn born from the "Wanderers" or

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( grc, οἱ Τῑτᾶνες, ''hoi Tītânes'', , ''ho Tītân'') were the pre-Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (Sky) and Ga ...

. Sydyk is described as the father of the " Dioskouroi or

Kabeiroi In Greek mythology, the Cabeiri or Cabiri ( grc, Κάβειροι, ''Kábeiroi''), also transliterated Kabeiri or Kabiri, were a group of enigmatic chthonic deities. They were worshiped in a mystery cult closely associated with that of Hephaest ...

or Korybants or Samothracians", who are credited with the invention of the ship. The Phoenician Sydyk was equated with Roman

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

, and hence it has been suggested that Sydyk was connected to the worship of the planet Jupiter as the manifestation of justice or righteousness.

Connection to other Middle Eastern deities

A connection between Sydyk and the Assyro-Babylonian deity Kittu has been proposed. The latter was also referred to as ''Ṣidqu'' and additionally the West Semitic name ''Ammi-ṣaduqa'' is translated into Akkadian as ''Kimtum-kittum'' showing an equivalence of meaning between the West Semitic ''ṣ-d-q'' and the Akkadian ''kittu''.

Kittu ''Kittu'' ( te, కిట్టు) is a 2006 traditionally animated Indian feature film. It is the first animated film to be made in the Telugu language. It won the National Film Award and is also credited with AP state award (Nandi Award) as ...

was similarly paired with the god Misharu, whose name is a cognate of Misor ("justice"). In Mari the equivalent deities of ''Išar'' and ''Mešar'' are found. An

Ugaritic Ugaritic () is an extinct Northwest Semitic language, classified by some as a dialect of the Amorite language and so the only known Amorite dialect preserved in writing. It is known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeologis ...

reference to a god named Ṣaduq has also been found, a possible forerunner of Sydyk.Matthews, Kenneth. ''The New American Commentary''. B&H, 2005.Matthews 154. It has also been conjectured that a related deity named or titled "Tzedek" (i.e. "righteousness") was worshipped in pre-Israelite Jerusalem as the names of two kings of the city,

Melchizedek In the Bible, Melchizedek (, hbo, , malkī-ṣeḏeq, "king of righteousness" or "my king is righteousness"), also transliterated Melchisedech or Malki Tzedek, was the king of Salem and priest of (often translated as "most high God"). He is f ...

and

Adonizedek According to the Book of Joshua, Adonizedek ( ''ʾĂḏōnī-ṣeḏeq'', also transliterated Adoni-zedec) was king of Jerusalem at the time of the Israelite invasion of Canaan. According to Cheyne and Black, the name originally meant "Ṣedeḳ ...

contain the element ''tzedek''. According to one such hypothesis "Tzedek" was an epithet of the god El (). However the mainstream understanding of these names (meaning "My King is Righteousness" and "My Lord is Righteousness" respectively) is that they refer to the concept of righteousness and not to a god.Geoffrey W. Bromiley ed., ''The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1994, entries ''Melchizedek'', ''Adoni-zedek''

References

{{reflist West Semitic gods Justice gods Jovian deities

Etymology and role in the Phoenician theogeny

Connection to other Middle Eastern deities

See also

References