with Ea. His worship was certainly of great antiquity. "Hammurabi",
writes Professor Pinches, "seems to speak of the Euphrates as being
'the boundary of Dagan'," whom he calls his creator. In later
inscriptions the form Daguna, which approaches nearer to the West
Semitic form (Dagon of the Philistines), is found in a few personal
names.[39]

It is possible that the Philistine deity Dagon was a specialized form
of ancient Ea, who was either imported from Babylonia or was a sea god
of more than one branch of the Mediterranean race. The authorities are
at variance regarding the form and attributes of Dagan. Our knowledge
regarding him is derived mainly from the Bible. He was a national
rather than a city god. There are references to a Beth-dagon[40],
"house or city of Dagon"; he had also a temple at Gaza, and Samson
destroyed it by pulling down the two middle pillars which were its
main support.[41] A third temple was situated in Ashdod. When the
captured ark of the Israelites was placed in it the image of Dagon
"fell on his face", with the result that "the head of Dagon and both
the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump
of Dagon was left".[42] A further reference to "the threshold of
Dagon" suggests that the god had feet like Ea-Oannes. Those who hold
that Dagon had a fish form derive his name from the Semitic "dag = a
fish", and suggest that after the idol fell only the fishy part (dāgo)
was left. On the other hand, it was argued that Dagon was a corn god,
and that the resemblance between the words Dagan and Dagon are
accidental. Professor Sayce makes reference in this connection to a
crystal seal from Phoenicia in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, bearing
an inscription which he reads as Baal-dagon. Near the name is an ear
of corn, and other symbols, such as the winged solar disc, a gazelle,
and several stars, but there is no fish. It may be, of course, that