The Pantheon of Palmyra

201 Pages·1979·43.414 MB·English

by  Javier Teixidor

THE PANTHEON
OF PALMYRA
ETUDES PRELIMINAIRES
AUX RELIGIONS ORIENTALES
DANS L'EMPIRE ROMAIN
PUBLIEES PAR
M. J. VERMASEREN
TOME SOIXANTE-DIX-NEUVIEME
JAVIER TEIXIDOR
THE PANTHEON
OF PALMYRA
LEIDEN
E. J. BRILL
1979

JAVIER TEIXIDOR
THE PANTHEON
OF PALMYRA
WITH A FRONTISPIECE, A MAP AND 35 PLATES
LEIDEN
J.
E. BRILL
1979
ISBN 90 04 05987 3
Copyright 1979 by E. ,. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche
or any other means without written permission from the publisher
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
CONTENTS
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII
Epigraphic Sources and Bibliography XI
1. THE CULT OF THE SUPREME GOD I
Bel. . . . . . . . . . . . I
Bel/Bel J:lamon and Manawat 12
Baal Shamin-Dura}:llun . . . 18
Poseidon . . . . . . . . . 25
II. THE CULT OF THE SUN AND THE MOON AT PALMYRA. 29
Yarhibol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., 29
Aglibol and Malakbel: the Moon God and the Sun God 34
III. THE GODDESS OF PALMYRA AND HER ASSOCIATES. 53
Allat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Ra}:lim . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Shama sh and His Astral Companions 64
Atargatis . . . . 71
IV. TUTELARY DEITIES 77
Ginnaye. . . . 77
Abgal . . . . . 80
Maan and Saad. 82
Ashar. . . . 83
slmn and slmt . 84
Shai(al qaum. . 85
The Gad Taimi . 89
The Gad of Tadmor . 92
The Gad of Dura-Europos . 92
The Gad of the Village 99
V. ORIENTAL DEITIES 101
Sadrafa . . . . . 101
Nebo . . . . . . 106
Herta and Nanai; Nergal III
VI CONTENTS
VI. THE ANONYMOUS GOD. IIS
A Cultic Formula. II6
Indexes ..... . 120
Notes on the Plates 128
Plates I-XXXV and Map
PREFACE
In De natura deorum Cicero describes an imaginary dialogue
between four friends interested in discussing the nature of the gods
and their divine actions. The subject is a challenging one, but it
has aroused no interest among students of the Semitic pantheons.
The philosophical questions expounded by Cicero in his book
seemingly do not suit a type of research which is based perforce
on archaeological and epigraphical facts. Yet one of the issues
dealt with by Cicero bears on the divine names, their origin, and
their significance. This was a frequent concern of the Classical
philosophers. Sometime during their poignant discussion Cicero
makes Cotta confront his colleague Velleius in the following terms:
"You, Velleius, have the same name wherever you go: but Vulcan
has different names in Italy, in Africa and in Spain. The number
of different names is limited, even in our religious books: but the
number of gods in your view is infinite. Or do some of them have
no names? This in fact is what you ought to maintain: for if they
all look the same why should they have different names? How
much better it would be, Velleius, to confess your ignorance of
things you do not know rather than to sicken us by spouting all
this rubbish, which cannot be pleasant even to yourself. Do you
really think that a god looks like me or like you? The fact is, you
have no idea."
1
The question raised by Cotta is valid: the existence of so many
divine names in the Semitic pantheons embarrasses the historian.
The Palmyrene inscriptions, too, mention many divine names,
but this can hardly mean that the deities were as numerous as the
names were. In sharp contrast with Minutius Felix's statement
that a Christian should not seek a name for God because the name
is God,2 the pantheon of Palmyra stands as a conglomerate of
names and epithets. This phenomenon, which is not unusual in
1 Cicero The Nature of the Gods 1.S3; trans. Horace C. P. McGregor,
Penguin Books (Harmondsworth, 1972), p. 103.
B "Nee Deo nomen quaeras. Deus nomen est," par. IS.