Beth-dagon

Beth-dagon (meaning: house of Dagon or temple of Dagon) was the name of two towns in ancient Palestine, both named for the Philistine and Canaanite grain deity Dagon. The first lay in the lowland territory of Judah near Philistia, in the Shephelah region; it is identified with modern Beit Dejan west of Lydda. The second Beth-dagon lay in the tribal territory of Asher in the north, mentioned in the boundary description of Asher's lot.

The name preserves evidence of the widespread Dagon cult in pre-Israelite Canaan, where temples to this deity existed at major Philistine centers including Gaza and Ashdod. The most dramatic episode involving Dagon occurs not at either Beth-dagon but at Ashdod, where the ark of the covenant was placed in the temple of Dagon and the idol twice fell prostrate before it. The place names Beth-dagon indicate that Dagon worship had penetrated far beyond the Philistine pentapolis into the broader Canaanite world before Israel's arrival.