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Dan and the Serpent Way.
Dan in Northern Israel,
Greece, and Elsewhere
For references to the article below as well as more information on this and related matters, see our work
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The place called Leshem and renamed Dan in the Book of Joshua appears to be the site of DAN in northern Galilee otherwise known as Daphne. On the other hand, LAISH which was also renamed DAN and is recalled in the Book of Judges is identical with a centre which gave its name to LUASH of the DANANU! LUASH adjoins Smal of Cilicia in modern southeast Turkey. The distance on foot between the two locations, Leshem of Dan in the northern Galilee and Luash of the Dananu in north Syria, is more than three hundred miles!!
1. The area hereby identified as that within which Liash-Dan is to be found is that known in ancient times as the Kingdom(s) of Smal of the Dananu and of Yadi and of Luash and Hamath. This encompassed the areas in Ptolemy's Map (of Arabia Deserta and Syria) depicting Chalybonitis, Cyrrestica, Commagena, Cilicia, and extending into Armenia Minor. To the east and southeast of this region were the territories of Bathanaei and Bathanaea Regio (i.e. Kingdom of Bathanaea) and Bathan is an Aramaic ("Syrian") pronounciation of BASHAN. Moses had blessed the Tribe of Dan (Deuteronomy 33;22): "Dan is a lion's whelp, he shall leap from Bashan". The area of Luash may also be considered part of Bashan. "LIASH" means young male lion and therefore connects with the expression "Dan is a lion's whelp", i.e. Dan is a young "Liash" leaping forth from the Bashan: Luash-Liash may be considered a geographical extension, a "leaping forward" from the area denoted as Bathan or Bashan.
Danaus: Greek tradition related how Danaus after coming out of Egypt came with his daughters to Greece whereas his brothers went to Jerusalem. In Greece the daughters of Danaus intermarried with the local aristocracy and their children became rulers. In honour of Danaus the local Pelasgian Ionian Greeks renamed themselves DANAIOI by which term the early Greeks are often referred to by Homer, though some say that by "Danaoi" Homer was referring more to a specific ruling warrior class..
Apollo was originally a Hittite thunder god who in Greek Mythology through Daphne fathered Mopsus. From his base in Colophon (Ionia) Mopsus joined a group returning from the Trojan War. Mopsus founded colonies in southern Anatolia (Aspendus) and in Cilicia. Strabo (14;4;3) said that the Tribe of Mopsus invaded the eastern Mediterranean area and settled the coasts of Cilicia, Syria, and Phoenicia. Mopsus wandered about with his band of warriors, was famous for his riddles, and according to Xanthus died in Ashkelon of snakebite. The Danite hero, Samson was also famous for his riddles (Judges 15;12), and gave his life apparently in Gaza (Judges 16;21) which like Ashkelon was a Philistine city not far from Gaza. Samson's death was caused by his deliberately collapsing the two supporting pillars of the building he was in, in order to destroy its occupants at that moment. In Talmudic tradition Samson's death was likened to that of a snake who bites the horse's heel in order to kill the rider but is himself crushed by the horse collapsing upon him.
The Dananu were at first centred in Smal to the east of Cilicia. In the 700s BCE the centre of the Dananu moved to Adana in Cilicia though Smal remained important. Dananu suzerainity stretched to the north in east Anatolia and reached at least to Karatepe to the north of Cilicia. After the destruction of the Hittite Empire, small neo-Hittite states had arisen in northern Syria. They were of Hittite culture and influenced the Dananu. From the Danau centre of Karatepe has been found a bi-lingual text using both a Hittite tongue and a form of Phoenicianised Hebrew. The King of Karatepe identifies himself as ruler of the Dananu and says he is descended from "the house of MPS". This appellation ("MPS") has been equated with the Greek rendition of MOPSUS. At all events, MOPSUS was considered a term of royalty in the Cilician area and an important region (by the coast) was known as "Mopsopia". "MOPSOS" appears also to have been a title given to the idol SANDON who was equated with Hercules and worshipped in Cilicia. The name Sandon is probably a dialectical version of Samson. Legends concerning Hercules are based on identical themes to those in the story of Samson. Hercules was the great grandson of Perseus and Perseus a descendant of Danaus of Greek Mythology. Perseus,said the Greeks, conquered the city of Jaffo (in the Land of Israel) and married Andromeda the daughter of the King of Ethiopia who then ruled there. Jaffo was the area originally bequeathed to the Tribe of Dan and which the Tribe of Dan unsuccessfully attempted to conquer and settle before directing their attentions elsewhere.