Related Research Articles
Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia included indigenous Arabian polytheism, ancient Semitic religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Iranian religions such as Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, and Manichaeism.
Septimia Zenobia was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the city, Odaenathus. Her husband became king in 260, elevating Palmyra to supreme power in the Near East by defeating the Sassanians and stabilizing the Roman East. After Odaenathus' assassination, Zenobia became the regent of her son Vaballathus and held de facto power throughout his reign.
Bel, signifying "lord" or "master", is a title rather than a genuine name, applied to various gods in the Mesopotamian religion of Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia. The feminine form is Belit 'Lady, Mistress'. Bel is represented in Greek as Belos and in Latin as Belus. Linguistically Bel is an East Semitic form cognate with the Northwest Semitic Baal with the same meaning.
Astarte is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess Astoreth, a form of Ishtar, worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name is particularly associated with her worship in the ancient Levant among the Canaanites and Phoenicians. She was also celebrated in Egypt following the importation of Levantine cults there. The name Astarte is sometimes also applied to her cults in Mesopotamian cultures like Assyria and Babylonia.
Septimius Odaenathus was the founder king (Mlk) of the Palmyrene Kingdom who ruled from Palmyra, Syria. He elevated the status of his kingdom from a regional center subordinate to Rome into a formidable state in the Near East. Odaenathus was born into an aristocratic Palmyrene family that had received Roman citizenship in the 190s under the Severan dynasty. He was the son of Hairan, the descendant of Nasor. The circumstances surrounding his rise are ambiguous; he became the lord (ras) of the city, a position created for him, as early as the 240s and by 258, he was styled a consularis, indicating a high status in the Roman Empire.
Al-Lat, also spelled Allat, Allatu and Alilat, is a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess worshipped under various associations throughout the entire peninsula, including Mecca where she was worshipped alongside Manat and al-'Uzza as one of the daughters of Allah. The word Allat or Elat has been used to refer to various goddesses in the ancient Near East, including the goddess Asherah-Athirat.
In ancient Levantine mythology, Azizos or Aziz is the Palmyran Arab god of the morning star. He is portrayed as riding a camel with his twin brother Arsu, although one source says that "Azizos is depicted as a horseman, whereas Arşu is a cameleer." He was venerated separately in Syria as god of the morning star, Phosphoros, in company with the astral god Monimos, Hesperos.
Lucius Julius Aurelius Septimius Vaballathus Athenodorus was emperor of the Palmyrene Empire centred at Palmyra in the region of Syria. He came to power as a child under his regent mother Zenobia, who led a revolt against the Roman Empire and formed the independent Palmyrene Empire.
Aglibol is a Syrian god, originating from a north Syrian immigrant community. He is a moon god who was worshiped in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra as part of a trinity alongside Bel and Yarhibol, and associated with the sun god Malakbel.
Malakbel was a sun god worshiped in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, frequently associated and worshiped with the moon god Aglibol as a party of a trinity involving the sky god Baalshamin.
Abgal was a pre-Islamic Arabian god, whose worship is attested by inscriptions dating to the Palmyrene Empire – he is thought to have been primarily worshipped by nomads.
Sumatar Harabesi was an ancient watering place for semi-nomadic peoples located in the Tektek Mountains, 60 kilometers (37 mi) southeast of Urfa and 40 kilometers (25 mi) northeast of Harran, in modern-day Turkey. A now deserted oasis, it consists of a set of ruins and tombs situated around a central mount of rock 50 meters (160 ft) in height and width.
Palmyra is an ancient Semitic city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second millennium BC. Palmyra changed hands on a number of occasions between different empires before becoming a subject of the Roman Empire in the first century AD.
The Lion of Al-lāt is an ancient statue that adorned the Temple of Al-Lat in Palmyra, Syria. On 27 June 2015, it was severely damaged by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after it had captured Palmyra. The statue was removed to the National Museum of Damascus and underwent reconstruction work, and now stands again.
The Temple of Baalshamin was an ancient temple in the city of Palmyra, Syria, dedicated to the Canaanite sky deity Baalshamin. The temple's earliest phase dates to the late 2nd century BCE; its altar was built in 115 CE, and the temple was substantially rebuilt in 131 CE. The temple would have been closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire in a campaign against the temples of the East made by Maternus Cynegius, Praetorian Prefect of Oriens, between 25 May 385 to 19 March 388. With the spreading of Christianity in the region in the 5th century CE, the temple was converted to a church.
The Bene Komare were a Palmyrene tribe who were attested as one of the main four tribes of Palmyra.
The Temple of Al-Lat, was an ancient temple located in Palmyra, Syria dedicated to the goddess Al-Lat.
The Roman temple of Bziza is a well-preserved first century AD building dedicated to Azizos, a personification of the morning star in the Canaanite mythology. This Roman temple lends the modern Lebanese town of Bziza its current name as Bziza is a corruption of Beth Azizo meaning the house or temple of Azizos. Azizos is identified as Ares by Julian the Apostate.
Odaenathus, the king of Palmyra from 260 to 267 CE, has been identified by modern scholars as the subject of sculptures, seal impressions, and mosaic pieces. His city was part of the Roman Empire, and he came to dominate the Roman East when in 260 he defeated Shapur I, the Sasanian emperor of Persia, who had invaded the Roman Empire. Odaenathus besieged the Sasanian capital Ctesiphon in 263, and although the city did not fall, the campaign led to a full restoration of Roman provinces taken by Shapur I. In the aftermath of his Persian war, Odaenathus assumed the title King of Kings, which was a challenge to the Persian monarch's claims of authority in the region. Odaenathus ruled the Roman East unopposed with imperial consent. In 267, he was assassinated alongside his eldest son Herodianus while conducting a campaign against Germanic raiders in Bithynia; he was succeeded by his son Vaballathus under the regency of the widow queen Zenobia.
References
Citations
- 1 2 Gawlikowski 2003, p. 9.
- ↑ Stoneman 1994, p. 67.
- ↑ Teixidor 1979, p. 36.
- 1 2 3 Gawlikowski 2008, p. 398.
- ↑ Drijvers 1976, p. 14.
Sources
- Drijvers, Hendrik Jan Willem (1976). van Baaren, Theodoor Pieter; Leertouwer, Lammert; Leemhuis, Fred; Buning, H. (eds.). The Religion of Palmyra. Iconography of Religions. Section XV Mesopotamia and the Near East (Institute of Religious Iconography, State University Groningen). Brill. ISBN 978-0-585-36013-3. ISSN 0169-8036. OCLC 714982019.
- Gawlikowski, Michał (2008). "The Statues of the Sanctuary of Allat in Palmyra". In Eliav, Yaron Z.; Friedland, Elise A.; Herbert, Sharon (eds.). The Sculptural Environment of the Roman Near East: Reflections on Culture, Ideology, and Power. Interdisciplinary Studies in Ancient Culture and Religion. 9. Peeters Publishers. ISBN 978-9-042-92004-0. ISSN 1780-5961.
- Gawlikowski, Michał (2003). "Palmyra: From a Tribal Federation to a City". In Freyberger, Klaus Stefan; Henning, Agnes; von Hesberg, Henner (eds.). Kulturkonflikte im Vorderen Orient an der Wende vom Hellenismus zur Römischen Kaiserzeit. Orient-Archäologie. 11. Verlag Marie Leidorf. ISBN 978-3-896-46641-9. ISSN 1434-162X.
- Stoneman, Richard (1994). Palmyra and Its Empire: Zenobia's Revolt Against Rome. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-08315-2.
- Teixidor, Javier (1979). The Pantheon of Palmyra. Études préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'Empire romain. 79. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-05987-0.
| Historic buildings |
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| People |
| ||||||||
| Society |
| ||||||||
