Palmyra

Language.

The language spoken at Palmyra was a dialect of western Aramaic, and belongs to the same group as Nabataean and the Aramaic spoken in Egypt. In some important points, however, the dialect was related to the eastern Aramaic or Syriac (e.g. the plur. ending in "e'; the dropping of the final i of the pro nominal suffix third pers. sing. with nouns, and of the final ft of the third pers. pl. of the verb; the infin. ending ft, etc.). But the relation to western Aramaic is closer; specially characteristic are the following features: the imperf. beginning with y, not as in Syriac and the eastern dialects with n or 1; the plur. ending -ayyd'; the forms of the demonstrative pronouns, etc. As the bulk of the population was of Arab race, it is not surprising that many of the proper names are Arabic and that several Arabic words occur in the inscriptions. The technical terms of municipal government are mostly Greek, transliterated into Palmyrene ; a few Latin words occur, of course in Aramaic forms. The writing is a modified form of the old Aramaic character, and especially interesting because it represents almost the last stage through which the ancient alphabet passed before it developed into the Hebrew square character.

The names of the months were the same as those used by the Nabataeans, Syrians and later Jews, viz., the Babylonian. The calendar was practically a reproduction of the Julian, which Roman influence disseminated throughout Syria. Dates were reckoned by the Seleucid era, from October 312 B.C.

Religion.

The religion of Palmyra did not differ in essentials from that of the north Syrians and the Arab tribes of the eastern desert. The chief god of the Palmyrenes was a solar deity, called Samas or Shamash ("sun"), or Bel, or Malak-bel, transcribed MaXaxAXos, Maiagbelus (NSI. p. 268; Lidzbarski, Ephemeris, ii. pp. 84, 92), whose great temple is still the most imposing feature among the ruins of Palmyra. Both Bel and Malak-bel were of Babylonian origin. Sometimes associated with the Sun god was 'Agli-bol the Moon-god, who is represented as a young Roman warrior with a large crescent attached to his shoulders (Chabot, Choix d'Inscr. de Palmyre, Pl. xix. I). The great goddess of the Aramaeans, in Greek Atargatis (q.v.), and Allath, the chief goddess of the ancient Arabs, were also wor shipped at Palmyra. Another deity whose name occurs in votive inscriptions, is Baal-shamin, i.e., "Baal of the heavens," = ZEUS 1.4E71.070S Kepabvtos, sometimes called "lord of eternity." Another interesting divine name is that of a distinctly Arabic deity "Shea alqam the good and bountiful god who does not drink wine" (NSI. No. 14o B) ; the name means "he who accompanies, the protector of, the people"—the divine patron of the caravan. A common formula in Palmyrene dedications runs "To him whose name is blessed for ever, the good and the compassionate"; out of reverence the name of the deity was not pronounced ; was it Bel or Malak-bel? It is worth noticing that this epithet like "lord of eternity" (or, "of the world"), has a distinctly Jewish character. Altogether about 22 names of gods are found in Palmyrene ; some of them, however, only occur in compound proper names.

After its overthrow by Aurelian, Palmyra was partially revived as a military station by Diocletian (end of 3rd century A.D.), as

we learn from a Latin inscription found on the site. Before this time Christianity had made its way into the oasis, for among the fathers present at the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) was Marinus bishop of Palmyra. The names of two other bishops (5th and 6th centuries) have come down to us and the foundations of two churches have been discovered, the larger of which, 148ft. by 88ft., may have held the seat of the bishop. About A.D. 400, Palmyra was the station of the first Illyrian legion (Not. dign. i. 85, ed. Wicking) ; Justinian in 527 furnished it with an aqueduct, and built the wall of which the ruins still remain (Procopius, De aedif, ii. II). At the Moslem conquest of Syria, Palmyra capitu lated to Kh5.1id (see CALIPHATE) without embracing Islam (Yaqut, i. 831). The town became a Moslem fortress and re ceived a considerable Arab colony. The ruins of Palmyra greatly interested the Arabs, and are commemorated in several poems quoted by Yacifit and others ; they are referred to by the early poet Nabigha as proofs of the might of Solomon and his sov ereignty over their builders the Jinn (Derenbourg, burn. As. xii. 269). References to Palmyra in later times have been collected by Quatremere, Sultans Mamlouks, ii. pt. I. p. 255 seq. All but annihilated by earthquake in the I I th century, it recovered con siderable prosperity; when Benjamin of Tudela visited the city, which was still called Tadmor, he found 2,000 Jews within the walls (12th century). It was still a wealthy place as late as the 14th century; but in the general decline of the East, and owing to changes in the trade routes, it sunk at length to a poor group of hovels gathered in the courtyard of the Temple of the Sun. The ruins first became known to Europe through the visit of Dr. William Halifax of Aleppo in 1691 (see PEFQ. St. 1890). The architecture was carefully studied by Wood and Dawkins in 1751, whose splendid folio (The Ruins of Palmyra, London, 1753) also gave copies of inscriptions. But the epigraphic wealth of Pal myra was first opened to study by the collections of Waddington (vol. iii.) and De Vogue (La Syrie centrale) made in 1861-62. Since that time the most valuable document which has come to light is the great fiscal inscription discovered in 1882 by Prince Abamelek Lazarew.

See also J. Mordtmann, Palmyrenisches (1899) ; Clermont-Ganneau, Etudes d'arch. or. i., Receuil. d'arch. or. iii., v., vii., viii. ; Lidzbarski; Ephemeris, i. and ii. ; Sobernheim, Palm. Inschr. (1905). The Reper toire d'epigr. sem. contains the new texts which have been published since 'goo, and Chabot, Choix d'Inscriptions de Palmyre, 1922, a valu able collection of texts and photographs. For the dialect, see Noldeke, ZDMG. xxiv. 85-109, and S. A. Cook JQR. xvi. 274 ff. Critical dis cussions of the history will be found in Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire, (Eng. trans., 1886), pp. 92 sqq. An expedition was made in 1914 by Peres Jaussen and Savignac, under the auspices of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres; the report is given in the Revue Biblique, 192o, pp. The whole site is being explored afresh (1927) for the Academie by Prof. A. Gabriel, see Syria, viii.

(1927) pp. 71-92. (G. A. C.)