Bene Komare

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The Bene Komare were a Palmyrene tribe who were attested as one of the main four tribes of Palmyra.

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Name

The tribe was known as the Komare (Chomarenoi in Ancient Greek) and were only once mentioned with the Greek name Choneitai; both names mean priests. [1] Komare is the plural of Kumra, which means priest in Aramaic, while Choneitai is the Greek plural of the Canaanite Kohen, which means priest. [1]

Origin and history

The Canaanite name occurred earlier than the Aramaic one, [2] indicating that they were of Canaanite origin who became established in Palmyra before 32 BC. [3] They were first mentioned in an inscription from Dura-Europos, [4] when in 33 BC, Maliku son of Ramu from the Komare in association with a member of the Gaddibol tribe built a temple for Bel and Yarhibol in that city, [5] which contained a Palmyrene trade colony. [6] The Komare were one of the main four tribes in Palmyra which constituted the nucleus of the city's society. [7] An inscription from November 21 AD mention that a certain Hashash son of Nesa from the Komare had a statue erected for him by his tribe and the tribe of Bene-Mattabol for his efforts in reconciling the two tribes who apparently got involved in a conflict. [7]

The tribe was devoted to the cult of the gods Aglibol and Malakbel, [8] and were connected with those deities temple known as the Holy Garden. [9] [4] The Komare were involved in the Palmyrene caravan trade and its merchants were attested in Babylon. [10]

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References

Citations

Sources

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