ABSTRACT
A passage in Philo of Byblos’ theogony supposed to go back to Sachunyaton1 has preserved the names of two deities, Συδύκ and Μισώρ, meaning ‘justice’ and ‘righteousness’.2 While the clearly Phoenician etymology of the name is unproblematic when it comes to the identification, the fact that the two deities never appear in the direct documentation (Phoenician inscriptions) leads us to ask if Philo’s data might be inconsistent or artificial or at least late. It must, however, be noted that the evaluation of the testimony of Philo when it comes to the reconstruction of ancient Phoenician religion has generally changed for the better when confronted with the evidence found in the texts from Ugarit.3 Therefore, it will not be without value to evaluate how trustworthy Philo really is on this point and this is very pertinent as the description of the two deities should be interesting from an ideological point of view and in view of the practically unknown Phoenician political institutions.
