Yarhibol or Iarhibol is an Aramean god who was worshiped mainly in ancient Palmyra, a city in central Syria. He was depicted with a solar nimbus and styled "lord of the spring". He normally appears alongside Bel, who was a co-supreme god of Palmyra, and Aglibol, one of the other top Palmyrene gods. [1]
It is believed that Yarhibol was originally the patronus/genius loci of the source Efqa in Palmyra; it is known that his title was "Lord / Guardian [Gad] of the Source". [2] In general, however, his onomastics indicates an earlier connection with the lunar, not the solar, cult. His name translates as "the moon of Bel", and at the same time shows a connection with the North-Western Semitic (Canaanite) moon god Jarih (Yariḫ). [lower-alpha 1] It is characteristic that on the stele in Dura Europos (2nd century AD), apart from the radiant crown, it is additionally decorated with a crescent. [3]
Earlier Yarhibol must have been a local deity of ancestors in a desert oasis, worshiped by the descendants of the first settlers and appeared in the form of a Baetylus. In a stele of the Temple of the Gadde in Dura Europos, Yarhibol is described as "good god". [4] Being the custodian of a healing spring - a place special for the desert inhabitants, with time he also got the function of the supreme (divine) judge and acquired prophetic qualities (giving divinations), which was usually associated with the aspect characteristic of a solar deity. Over time, this was also reflected in his cult imaginations and ideological kinship with the Greek god Apollo. [5]
In Palmyra, Yarhibol generally never appears on bust reliefs. [6] The oldest image on the local relief from the 1st century BC shows him in a Greek chiton and himation, with a palm branch in his hand - in a pacifist form. A different iconography is reflected in the canon of representations from the 1st-3rd century AD, when both group and individual images show him with armament and Roman military outfit. [lower-alpha 2]
As a rule, however, Yarhibol appears in a triad, along with another ancient local deity - Aglibol (god of the moon), and accompanying the supreme deity - Bel. As a local tribal god, Yarhibol remained slightly against both of them. [7] Although the Baalshamin triad was worshiped at Palmyra, this apparently did not prevent the same veneration of both supreme gods, [lower-alpha 3] and a telling testimony is the Ba'alay votive relief from the Lyon Fine Arts Museum, showing the unusual combination of these deities from both triads. Jarhibol, in trinity with Baalshamin and Aglibol, appears (alongside local Parthian deities) also in Dura Europos, in the Temple of the Gadde. [8]
In addition, Yarhibol also had his own triad, in which he is shown with various deities: above all with Aglibol (always standing at his right hand) and with the goddess Arsu, thus creating the symbolic Sun-Moon-Earth cosmic group. He may also be accompanied by the goddess Belti (the female equivalent of Bela, equated with Venus) or Atargatis. Among the not uncommon multi-figure representations [lower-alpha 4] appears together with Hercules or with the goddess Semia (juxtaposed with the Greek Athena). However, no common depictions with Malakbel were found. [9]
It seems that Yarhibol's cult was long entrenched in Palmyra, since he was worshiped by the Amorites, who are considered the earliest known inhabitants of the area. Until a specific iconography of the deity was created, he was undoubtedly worshiped in the form of Baetylus. [10] It is assumed that in the cella of the Palmyrene temple of Bel, the northern niche contained the statues of the trinity of gods, including Yarhibol. [11] The material confirmation of the local cult were found in form of olive votive lamps with his representations and relevant inscriptions, as well as temple tesserae, on which Yarhibol is featured, for example, with Aglibol and in the Bela triad. [12] The popularity of this deity would also be emphasized by the use of his name as a proper name by the inhabitants of Palmyra, as evidenced in the discovered local inscriptions. [13]
The caravan route contributed to a certain spread, or at least to transfer, of his cult further east, as evidenced by its finding in the sanctuary in Dura Europos discovered by JH Breasted and F. Cumont. The dating of local frescoes shows that the cult of the Palmyrene triad in the Roman era was maintained there at least during the 2nd century AD (after 145). [14]
Bêl is a title signifying "lord" or "master" applied to various gods in the Mesopotamian religion of Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia. The feminine form is Bêlit in Akkadian. Bel is represented in Greek as Belos and in Latin as Belus. Belit appears in Greek form as Beltis (Βελτις). Linguistically, Bel is an East Semitic form cognate with the Northwest Semitic Baal with the same meaning.
Atargatis was the chief goddess of northern Syria in Classical antiquity. Primarily she was a fertility goddess, but, as the baalat ("mistress") of her city and people she was also responsible for their protection and well-being. Her chief sanctuary was at Hierapolis, modern Manbij, northeast of Aleppo, Syria.
Dura-Europos was a Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman border city built on an escarpment 90 metres above the southwestern bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the village of Salhiyé, in present-day Syria. Dura-Europos was founded around 300 BC by Seleucus I Nicator, who founded the Seleucid Empire as one of the Diadochi of Alexander the Great. In 113 BC, Parthians conquered the city, and held it, with one brief Roman intermission, until 165 AD. Under Parthian rule, it became an important provincial administrative centre. The Romans decisively captured Dura-Europos in 165 AD and greatly enlarged it as their easternmost stronghold in Mesopotamia, until it was captured by the Sasanian Empire after a siege in 256–57 AD. Its population was deported, and the abandoned city eventually became covered by sand and mud and disappeared from sight.
al-Lat, also spelled Allat, Allatu and Alilat, is a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess worshipped under various associations throughout the entire Arabian 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.
The Canaanite religion was the group of ancient Semitic religions practiced by the Canaanites living in the ancient Levant from at least the early Bronze Age through the first centuries AD. Canaanite religion was polytheistic and, in some cases, monolatristic. Some gods and goddesses were absorbed into the Yahwist religion of the ancient Israelites, notably El, Baal and Asherah, until the Babylonian captivity where they worshipped God alone.
Aglibol is a god from Palmyra, 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.
Baalshamin, also called Baal Shamem and Baal Shamaim, was a Northwest Semitic god and a title applied to different gods at different places or times in ancient Middle Eastern inscriptions, especially in Canaan/Phoenicia and Syria. The title was most often applied to Hadad, who is also often titled just Ba‘al. Baalshamin was one of the two supreme gods and the sky god of pre-Islamic Palmyra in ancient Syria. There his attributes were the eagle and the lightning bolt, and he perhaps formed a triad with the lunar god Aglibol and the sun god Malakbel. The title was also applied to Zeus.
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.
The Temple of Bel, sometimes also referred to as the "Temple of Baal", was an ancient temple located in Palmyra, Syria. The temple, consecrated to the Mesopotamian god Bel, worshipped at Palmyra in triad with the lunar god Aglibol and the sun god Yarhibol, formed the center of religious life in Palmyra and was dedicated in AD 32. 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. Its ruins were considered among the best preserved at Palmyra, until they were further destroyed by the Islamic State in August 2015. The arched main entrance into the temple is still intact, as well as its exterior walls and fortified gate.
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.
The Feriale Duranum is a calendar of religious observances for a Roman military garrison at Dura-Europos on the Euphrates, Roman Syria, under the reign of Severus Alexander.
Parthian art was Iranian art made during the Parthian Empire from 247 BC to 224 AD, based in the Near East. It has a mixture of Persian and Hellenistic influences. For some time after the period of the Parthian Empire, art in its styles continued for some time. A typical feature of Parthian art is the frontality of the people shown. Even in narrative representations, the actors do not look at the object of their action, but at the viewer. These are features that anticipate the art of medieval Europe and Byzantium.
Palmyra is an ancient 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 Nabataean religion was a form of Arab polytheism practiced in Nabataea, an ancient Arab nation which was well settled by the third century BCE and lasted until the Roman annexation in 106 CE. The Nabateans were polytheistic and worshipped a wide variety of local gods as well as Baalshamin, Isis, and Greco-Roman gods such as Tyche and Dionysus. They worshipped their gods at temples, high places, and betyls. They were mostly aniconic and preferred to decorate their sacred places with geometric designs. Much knowledge of the Nabataeans’ grave goods has been lost due to extensive looting throughout history. They made sacrifices to their gods, performed other rituals and believed in an afterlife.
The Bene Komare were a Palmyrene tribe who were attested as one of the main four tribes of Palmyra.
The Bene Ma'zin were a Palmyrene tribe who were attested as one of the main four tribes of the city.
The Temple of the Gadde is a temple in the modern-day Syrian city of Dura-Europos, located near the agora. It contained reliefs dedicated to the protective deities of Dura-Europos and the nearby city of Palmyra, after whom the temple was named by its excavators. The temple was excavated between 1934 and January 1936 by the French/American expedition of Yale University, led by Michael Rostovtzeff.
The Temple of Bel, also known as the Temple of the Palmyrene gods, was located in Dura Europos, an ancient city on the Euphrates, in modern Syria. The temple was established in the first century BC and is celebrated primarily for its wall paintings. Despite the modern names of the structure, it is uncertain which gods were worshipped in the structure. Under Roman rule, the temple was dedicated to the Emperor Alexander Severus. In that period, the temple was located within the military camp of the XXth Palmyrene cohort.
The so-called necropolis temple was in the north of Dura-Europos, outside the city walls, about 150 m northwest of the main gate.
The Temple of Aphlad was an ancient temple located in the southwestern corner of Dura Europos, and dedicated to the god Aphlad. Aphlad was originally a Semitic Mesopotamian god from the city of Anath, and presence of his cult in Dura is revealing of its religious and cultural diversity. The temple itself consists of an open courtyard with multiple scattered rooms and altars, similar to the Temple of Bel, which was located in an analogous position in the northwestern corner of Dura.