The Melqart is a bronze Phoenician statuette (9th-11th century BC) found in 1955 in the stretch of sea between Syracuse and Selinunte by fishermen of Sciacca during a fishing trip (from Sciacca's boat "Mother Angelica").

Those who have seen it have defined the statue unique in its kind .There has yet to be found another which compares to it in Italy.

The discovery of the statuette created a series of cultural exceptions among scholars who observed the particular find It was first accepted by the community for study and then at the same time denied until historian and scholar, V. Tusa claimed the identified of "melqart" as Phoenician in the Western Mediterranean.
The bronze piece measures approximately 35 cm and is fixed to a base by two supports which at present are ruined.
It represents a virile figure in its pose. The "God very aggressive": has the left leg forward and right hand raised toward the sky, the left hand lowered with the forearm leaning forward. Hands are tightened in a fist and crossed by two holes that should have supported ornamental accessories (presumably reproductions of military weapons of the period). Figure barbata, surrounds on the typical Phoenician leader atef (a Crown), shirtless and wearing the shenti (typical Egyptian style identifiable "kilt").
The time lost at sea has deteriorated some precious details, mostly on the back of the exhibit's bronze.

The Melqart of Sciacca is in the high class of bronze sculptures. This iconography, finds its earliest find in Egypt, and is characterized by the right arm raised upwards in the position of whip and represents a deity in warlike attitude.

Scholars are convinced that in all probability that it is as the God of the storm. It is currently preserved at the Museum "Salinas" in Palermo.