In the 14th century BCE, a Canaanite king dedicated a bronze statuette to Resheph, begging the god to turn his arrows away from the city. The plague had already killed half the population. The god had a name that meant “flame.”
Resheph (also spelled Reshef, Rashap, Reshpu) is a Canaanite deity of plague, war, and the underworld, attested in Ugaritic, Egyptian, and Phoenician sources from the 14th century BCE onward. He is typically depicted with a bow and arrow, a gazelle, and a flaming torch, symbolizing the fire of pestilence and the protective power of a warrior god.
Where Did Resheph Come From?
The earliest clear evidence for Resheph appears in the Ugaritic texts of the 14th–13th centuries BCE, excavated at Ras Shamra on the Syrian coast. Those clay tablets list him among the “sons of El,” the chief Canaanite pantheon. He is called šrš (“lord of the arrow”) and bʿl šmym (“lord of the heavens”). The Ugaritic epic of Kirta mentions Resheph as a god who strikes with disease, and one temple at Ugarit was dedicated to him, complete with a cult statue and an altar for burnt offerings.
By the same period, Egyptian records show Resheph under the name Reshpu. He appears in the reign of Amenhotep III (c. 1380 BCE) on a stela from Memphis, where he is depicted as a bearded man wearing a white crown with a gazelle’s head or horns, holding a shield, a spear, and a mace. The Egyptians integrated him into their own pantheon, pairing him with Ptah and sometimes with Isis. His cult center at Memphis may have been a temple of the “Resheph of the Merenptah” (a pharaoh’s name), indicating royal patronage.
The Phoenicians carried Resheph across the Mediterranean. In Cyprus, at the city of Idalion, a 5th-century BCE inscription dedicates a temple to “Resheph of the arrow.” Tribute stelae from Carthage also invoke him. The name itself — ršp in Semitic — means “flame” or “burning,” drawing a direct link between his nature and the fever of plague.
Why Did They Call Him the Arrow God?
Resheph’s primary symbol is the bow and arrow. In the ancient Near East, the unexpected strike of an arrow mirrored the sudden onset of epidemic disease. Arrows were invisible, fast, and deadly — exactly how plague felt. The Ugaritic texts refer to him as “the one who shoots,” and the Hebrew Bible later uses the same metaphor: “the arrows of the Lord” (Psalm 38:2) and “the burning arrows of Resheph” (Deuteronomy 32:24).
The gazelle appears on his headdress or as a companion animal. The gazelle is swift, but also a traditional sacrificial animal in the Levant. Offerings of gazelles may have been part of the ritual to appease him. The torch or flaming object he holds represents the fever that burns through the body. In Egyptian depictions, the torch is sometimes a fire-spitting serpent, reinforcing the idea of a consuming, purifying force.
Resheph was also associated with the planet Mars (the red star of war and pestilence) and with the destructive heat of the midday sun. The dual nature of his symbolism, destroyer but also protector, is crucial. The very arrows that could kill could be turned away by proper ritual. This is not a demon but a god who could be reasoned with.
How Did People Worship Resheph?
Worship of Resheph was practical: it aimed to avert plague or to heal from it. In Ugarit, the temple of Resheph contained a sacrificial altar where priests offered rams and gazelles, along with incense and libations. The king would sometimes dedicate a statue or a stele to the god, asking him to “break his bow” (i.e., stop shooting). The bronze statuette mentioned earlier, from the 14th century, is one such example, it was a bribe, an attempt to make the god drop his weapon.
In Egypt, Reshpu’s cult was more integrated. He was worshipped at Memphis alongside Ptah, the creator god, and Sekhmet, the lion-headed goddess of plague and healing. The Egyptians saw him as both a warrior and a healer, and he was invoked in medical spells. A papyrus from the 12th century BCE (the London Medical Papyrus) includes an incantation against plague that calls on Reshpu to “withdraw his arrows.”
The Phoenicians in Cyprus built sanctuaries where the god was addressed by epithets: Resheph of the flame, Resheph of the arrow, Resheph the protector. Offerings of bronze arrowheads have been found at these sites, placed as votive gifts. The worshipper would bring an arrowhead, perhaps a symbolic “return of the weapon,” and ask the god to take it back.
How Does Resheph Compare to Other Gods?
The closest parallel is Nergal, the Mesopotamian god of plague, war, and the underworld. Nergal also carries a bow and is associated with Mars. Both were feared and petitioned, and both had temples in major cities. The difference is that Nergal ruled the underworld more directly, while Resheph remained more a god of the living, his plague arrows struck the living, not the dead.
In Egypt, Sekhmet was the plague goddess who could both send and withdraw disease. Like Resheph, she was a “destroyer” who could be pacified with offerings of beer and wine. But Resheph was male, and his cult was more marginal in Egypt than in the Levant.
The most striking comparison is with the Greek Apollo. In the Iliad (Book 1), Apollo shoots arrows of plague into the Greek camp. He is also the god of healing, Apollo Paean. The Phoenicians in Cyprus openly identified Resheph with Apollo from the 5th century BCE onward. Coins from Idalion show Apollo with a bow and a gazelle, Resheph’s attributes. The equation was so complete that later Greek writers (such as Philo of Byblos) wrote that “Resheph is Apollo.”
The Hebrew Bible also transforms Resheph. In Habakkuk 3:5, the prophet describes a theophany: “Before him went pestilence, and fiery bolts (resheph) went forth at his feet.” Here, the Canaanite god has been demoted to a weapon of Yahweh. The same happens in Psalm 78:48, where the “arrows of the plague” are sent by the Hebrew God. The word resheph becomes a common noun for “flame” or “plague,” but the original deity lingers in the imagery.
What Do People Get Wrong About Resheph?
He was not a demon. Resheph was a full god with a temple, priests, and a regular cult. He was feared, but not simply evil. He was part of the ordered pantheon, not a random malevolent spirit.
The Hebrew word “resheph” is not always a god. In the Bible, it is used as a common noun for “plague” or “firebolt.” But the Ugaritic and Phoenician texts clearly treat it as a proper name. The biblical authors repurposed the word to avoid naming a foreign deity.
He was not a minor figure. In Ugarit, Resheph was one of the “sons of El,” equal in rank to Baal and Mot. He had a temple, a priesthood, and a pan-Mediterranean cult. To call him a minor god is to ignore the archaeological record.
He was not simply a god of plague. He was also a god of war, of the underworld, and of healing. The same arrows that brought disease could be withdrawn to restore health. This dual nature is why he was syncretized with Apollo, not with a purely destructive figure like the Egyptian Set.
FAQ
Is Resheph the same as Apollo?
Not originally. The identification happened in the Hellenistic period, especially in Cyprus, where Phoenician colonists equated the two gods. By the time of the Roman Empire, the equation was standard.
Did the ancient Hebrews worship Resheph?
The Hebrew Bible condemns worship of foreign gods, and Resheph is never listed as a deity of Israel. However, the word appears as a divine plague sent by Yahweh, showing that the concept was familiar.
Is Resheph mentioned in the Bible?
Yes, the word resheph appears in Deuteronomy 32:24, Psalm 78:48, and Habakkuk 3:5. In most translations it is rendered as “plague,” “fire bolts,” or “burning coals.”
What does Resheph look like?
In Egyptian art, he is a bearded man wearing a white crown with a gazelle’s head, holding a shield, spear, and mace. In Canaanite depictions, he is a warrior with a bow and arrow, sometimes accompanied by a gazelle or holding a torch.
Resheph’s story shows how the ancient world understood plague as a divine force that could be both inflicted and averted. The god who shot arrows of fever also accepted the prayers of a dying city. For more on the gods of the ancient Near East, explore our guides on mythology and the glossary of Canaanite deities. You may also find our guide to the gods of plague and healing illuminating.