Topic summary
Shapash
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Shapshu.
In Iron Age Phoenicia
The sun deity in Iron Age Phoenicia is consistently called šmš (Phoenician: 𐤔𐤌𐤔), rather than špš, and is attested in both male and female forms. A seventh century BCE Phoenician bowl from the Etruscan Bernadini tomb at Palestrina and the 'Phoenician Ivory of Shapash' both depict a female sun deity, though the sun cult at Baalbek centred on a male deity. Azize suggests that cultural influence from Mesopotamia or the Greek cult of Helios may have led to identification of the deity as male.