Close Encounters on Sicily: Molech, Meilichios, and Religious Convergence at Selinus

Western Sicily, and Selinus in particular, was one of the most important contact zones in the Mediterranean between Greek and Phoenician colonists and cultures since the early first millennium BCE. During its archaic and classical floruit, it functioned as a zone of encounter between Greek and Phoenician ritual, especially on the western Gag- gera Hill where a shrine of Meilichios neighbors a temple of Demeter Malophoros. Ritual practices, artifacts and inscriptions support the etymological connection between Meilichios and Semitic Molech that make this cult Near Eastern (Semitic) in origin, introduced via Phoenicians to Greeks at Selinus. The archaic “Triolo” temple with triple stelai, found south of this complex, resembles closely the Greco-Phoenician shrine at Kommos in Crete, and reinforces the impression of early Semitic influence into worship on the hill west of the Selinus acropolis. Such archaeological convergences in ritual space complement evidence for the early introduction of Semitic practices in amulets and defixiones or lead curse tab- lets into Greece via Sicily. A migration of ritual formulas of curse and blessing, atonement and thanks, across populations in close contact may have transpired through cohabitation, intermarriage, conversion, and other transcultural activities. This article argues for keeping the mixed nature of this encounter, including its Semitic features, visible in our understand- ing of cult at Selinus, rather than submerging or dividing it under ritual categories specific to Greek deities, Punic monuments, votive types, or religious rites.