SHADRAFA

ancient West Semitic benevolent deity. His name may possibly be translated as Spirit of Healing. He was often represented as a youthful, beardless male, standing on a lion above mountains, wearing a long, trailing garment and a pointed headdress, and holding a small lion in one hand and, perhaps, a whip in the other. In representations from Palmyra, Shadrafa is shown with serpents and scorpions. He was probably equated with the beautiful youth Adonis, who was prominent during Hellenistic times. Shadrafa was worshiped in North Africa as the tutelary deity of Leptis Magna, being equated there with Liber-Dionysus.