Resheph- Canaanite GodDeity"Lord of the Arrow"
Also known as: Rashap, Reshef, Ršp, and רֶשֶׁף
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Symbols
Description
His arrows brought plague — fevers that burned through cities and armies, death that struck from nowhere like a bowshot in the dark. But Resheph could also withhold the pestilence, and those who worshipped him did so from both fear and hope. From Ugarit to Egypt, wherever disease threatened, his cult followed.
Mythology & Lore
Lord of the Arrow
Resheph was a warrior whose arrows brought plague. His name carries the sense of burning, the fever that consumed the sick. He could send disease and he could withhold it. Those who worshipped him did so from both fear and hope.
At Ugarit, he received regular sacrificial portions alongside the major gods. The Ugaritic texts name him "Resheph of the Garden" (rshp gn) and station him as a gatekeeper at the entrance to significant locations, a god whose power could protect those inside or strike down intruders.
The Warrior Abroad
Phoenician expansion carried Resheph across the Mediterranean. In Egypt, he was adopted during the New Kingdom as a war god and protector of the pharaoh. Ramesses II was devoted to him. The Winchester College stele shows Resheph alongside the goddess Qetesh and Min, armed and wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt. He strides forward with bow or spear, a gazelle perched on his head.
Relationships
- Allied with
- Equivalent to
- Associated with