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I. Theory of myth [German version] A. Definition Despite many attempts, it has proven impossible to arrive at a definition of myth (Gr. μῦθος/ mýthos; Lat. mythos) that would satisfy all disciplines. The most satisfactory one refers to G.S. Kirk and W. Burkert who described myth as a ‘traditional narrative of collective significance’ [1; 2]. Still, this definition fails to fully represent the function of myth in the time after Classical Antiquity, when we find myths in entertaining narratives such as Ovidius's ‘Metamorphoses or Nonnus's Dionysiaká. The term ‘traditional’ implies…

[German version] I. Mesopotamia Mesopotamia did not develop a generic term for demons. A large number of immortal beings was known that each had their own name and acted as servants of the gods and as enemies or helpers of humans. They did not have cults of their own. Since demons were only able to exercise their limited powers, which manifested themselves in physical and psychological illnesses, with the approval of the gods, they were part of the existing world order. Thus, in the Babylonian tale …

[German version] (Κάσιον sc. ὄρος). Hellenized form of Hurrite Ḫazzi, name of the 1,770 m high Ǧebel al-Aqra, i.e. Ṣaphon, the mount of the gods with the residence of the god  Baal c. 40 km north of  Ugarit in north-western Syria. In the 1st millennium BC the Ṣaphon/Casium became the Syrio-Palestine mount of the gods ̣ par excellence; the name Casium is also to be found in the Nile delta on Lake Sirbon (Hdt. 2,6,1; 3,5,2) where the border between Egypt and Syria ran (Hdt. 2,158,4). In Syria the cult of  Zeus Casius was practised on the Casium until …

[German version] A goddess known from Ugarit, appearing in the 7th cent. BC as Anatbethel in the treaty of  Asarhaddon with Baal of Tyrus [4. no. 5 IV 6], in Asarhaddon's follow-up treaty [4. no. 6 § 54 A 467], as well as in the 5th cent. BC, when she appears under the name of Anatjahu as the Paredra of  Jahwe in Elephantine [5]. She was also possibly Jahwe's paredra in Samaria as early as the 8th cent. BC. In the OT, A. only exists as an element in place names (Jos 15,59; 19,38; Jer 1,1 and passi…

[German version] Protagonist of an epic (TUAT 4,1213-53) of Ugarit that refers to a royal family which is among the ancestors of the Ugaritic royal house. The epic shows the close link between the royal house and the god El and is concerned with the question of the royal descendants and succession. King K. lost seven wives and descendants one after another through various strokes of fate. In a dream El promises him a wife and children. His wife bears him eight sons and six daughters. Because of …

[German version] [1] Name of a deity Name of a deity, based on its earliest attestation (Palmyrene stele of Nazala, 1st cent. AD), it can be etymologically derived from lhbl (Hdn. 5,3,4: Elaiagabalos). Since lh is present in the status emphaticus, E. must be read as the ‘God Mountain’ [8. 503f.]. The image on the stele also speaks for this [1. 707]. The mountain signifies the citadel mountain of  Emesa (Ḥimṣ) with the temple of E. [6. 257f.; 8. 509f.], which is indicated in ancient descriptions (Avien. Descriptio orbis 1083-1093) …

[German version] I. Mesopotamia From the 3rd millennium to the end of Mesopotamian civilization, the staff of Mesopotamian temples consisted of the cult personnel in the narrower sense - i.e. the priests and priestesses who looked after the official cult in the temples, the cult musicians and singers - and the service staff (male and female courtyard cleaners, cooks, etc.). In addition, there was the hierarchically structured administrative and financial staff of the temple households, which constit…

[German version] (Ἀταργάτις; Atargátis: Isidorus [2] from Charax GGM 1,249; Ἀτταγάθη; : [9. 109]; Ἀταράτη Atargátē: Simpl. in Aristot. Ph. 641,33 f.; Ἀταργάτη [6 59 f.]. The goddess A. is documented from the 4th cent. BC in northern Syria. Her name is explained in the literature as a combination of the names  Astarte and  Anat (Aramaic ataraṯ(t)ā). A. shows characteristics of a warlike and erotic goddess, the ‘mistress of the beasts’ (  Pótnia thērṓn ), the mother of the gods ( Mother goddesses), a ‘mistress of the sea’,  Tyche and goddess of …

[German version] The goddess A., symbolized by the evening star, appears many times in the  Ugarit texts [1: 1. 43.1-8; 1. 47.25; 1. 92.2 and passim]. There are traits in her of the Babylonian Ištar. In Phoenician religion she is found in the panthea of Tyre (KAI 17) and Sidon (KAI 13; 14). There is evidence of her cult in the Mediterranean islands as far as Spain, and also in Israel. Her domains can be ascertained as love, fertility and war. In Hellenistic-Roman times she is subsumed with  Anat into the Dea  Syria. Niehr, Herbert (Tübingen) Bibliography 1 M. Dietrich et al., Keilschrifta…

[German version] I. Mesopotamia While attention in old Egyptian culture was largely centred on existence after death, the concerns of Mesopotamia were almost exclusively with the present. A significant part of the cultural energy of ancient Mesopotamia was devoted to keeping human actions in harmony with the divine, so as to ward off such misfortunes as natural catastrophes, war, sickness and premature death. As such, heavy responsibility rested on the ruler as mediator between the world of gods and that of men. In Mesopotamia everything which is and happens was seen as a man…

[German version] The chief god of the Biqāʿ Plain, in which the Arabian kingdom of the Ituraeans ( Ituraea) had been established from the 2nd cent. BC, had been since the pre-Arabian period the ‘Lord of the Biqāʿ’ ( bʿl bqʿ). Under the name of Zeus Helios or Juppiter (Optimus Maximus) H., he was worshipped in Roman times in  Baalbek (= Heliopolis), where his main temple was erected on older remains. His solarisation must have been the result of Ptolemaic influence. Well attested iconographically and epigraphically, this god is a  wea…

[German version] At the head of the Nabataean pantheon was the god Dusares (e.g. in Tert. Apol. 24,8; Nabatean Dušarā/ dw-šr; Δουσαρης in Greek inscriptions) (Répertoire d'Épigraphie Sémitique (=RES) 1401; CIS II 350,3-4). His name (‘he from the Šarā[-mountains]’) shows him as a local mountain or  weather god of the  Petra [1] region. The oldest evidence for the name of this deity dates from c. 96/95 BC, an inscription from the Triclinium of Aṣlaḫ in Petra (RES 1432). More insight into the character of this god is provided by bilingual inscriptions, which mention his nam…

This item can be found on the following maps: Achaemenids | Syria | Theatre | Caesar | Zenobia | | Coloniae | Commerce | India, trade with | Limes | Aegean Koine (Πάλμυρα/ Pálmyra, Semitic Tadmor). [German version] I. History Oasis in central Syria, c. 240 km north-east of Damascus and c. 200 km west of the Euphrates. P., from which routes led to Emesa (Ḥimṣ), Ḥamāh and Aleppo, was an important caravan station on the route from Mesopotamia to central Syria, Lebanon and Arabia. This made P. one of the richest and most influential cities in Syria from the 1st to the 3rd cents. AD. Epigraphically, P.…

[German version] (Semitic bal, fem. balat; Greek Bḗlos, ‘Lord’, ‘Owner’, ‘Ruler’, ‘Master’, ‘Husband’). Since the 3rd millennium BC, the term B. was used to address God in the Syrian-Phoenician area (in the sense of ‘B. is almighty, ruler of order over chaos, lord of the heavens and the world and King’). At the same time, B. also designated individual or local deities when combined with toponyms (‘lord’ of a city, of a mountain range etc.) or with natural phenomena (‘lord’ of thunder, of rain etc., namely B. as weather god). In  Ugarit's lists of gods, B. always follows  El and Dag…

[English version] (Ἀταργάτις: Isidoros [2] aus Charax GGM 1,249; Ἀτταγάθη: [9. 109]; Ἀταράτη: Simpl. in Aristot. phys. 641,33 f.; Ἀταργάτη [6 59 f.]. Die Göttin A. ist ab dem 4. Jh. v. Chr. in Nordsyrien belegt. Ihr Name wird in der Forsch.-Lit. erklärt als Kombination der Namen Astarte und Anat (aram. ataraṯ(t)ā). A. weist Züge einer kriegerischen und erotischen Göttin, der “Herrin der Tiere” ( Pótnia thērṓn ), der Göttermutter (Muttergottheiten), einer “Herrin der See”, Tyche und Fruchtbarkeitsgöttin auf. Ikonographisch wurde sie au…

[English version] [1] Gottesname Gottesname, läßt sich etym. aufgrund seines ältesten Belegs (palmyren. Stele von Nazala, 1. Jh.n.Chr.) auf lhgbl zurückführen (Herodian 5,3,4: Elaiagabalos). Da hierin lh im status emphaticus vorliegt, muß E. als “der Gott Berg” aufgefaßt werden [8. 503f.]. Dafür spricht auch die Abb. auf der Stele [1. 707]. Der Berg meint den Zitadellenhügel von Emesa (Ḥimṣ) mit dem Tempel des E. [6. 257f.; 8. 509f.], worauf ant. Beschreibungen (Avien. Descriptio orbis 1083-1093) und der Fund eines Alta…

Dieser Ort ist auf folgenden Karten verzeichnet: Achaimenidai | Ägäische Koine | Caesar | Coloniae | Handel | Indienhandel | Limes | Syrien | Theater | Zenobia | Straßen (Πάλμυρα, semit. Tadmor). [English version] I. Geschichte Oase in Mittelsyrien, ca. 240 km nö von Damaskos und ca. 200 km westl. des Euphrat. P., von dem aus Routen nach Emesa (Ḥimṣ), Ḥamāh und Aleppo führen, stellte eine wichtige Karawanenstation auf dem Wege von Mesopotamien nach Mittelsyrien, dem Libanon und Arabien dar. Dies machte P. vom 1. bis zum 3. Jh.n.Ch…

[English version] (semit. bal, Fem. balat; griech. Bḗlos, “Herr”, “Eigentümer”, “Herrscher”, “Meister”, “Ehemann”). Seit dem 3. Jt.v.Chr. im syr.-phöniz. Raum Gottesappellativ (im Sinne von “B. ist allmächtig, Herrscher der Ordnung über das Chaos, Herr des Himmels und der Welt und König”); bezeichnete zugleich aber auch in Verbindung mit Toponymen (“Herr” einer Stadt, eines Gebirges usw.) oder mit Naturerscheinungen (“Herr” des Donners, des Regens usw., d.h. B. als Wettergott) individuelle oder lokale Gottheiten. In den Götterlisten von Ugarit figuriert B. immer h…

I. Theorie des Mythos [English version] A. Definition Eine alle Disziplinen befriedigende Definition von M. (μῦθος/ mýthos; lat. mythos) zu finden, erweist sich trotz vieler Versuche als unmöglich. Am befriedigendsten hat sich die auf G.S. Kirk und W. Burkert zurückgehende Bestimmung von M. als einer ‘traditionellen Erzählung von kollektiver Bedeutsamkeit’ erwiesen [1; 2]; selbst sie wird aber der Funktion von M. in der nachklass. Ant. - als Inhalt unterhaltender Erzähldichtung wie etwa Ovids (Ovidius Naso) ‘Metamorphosen oder Nonnos' Dionysiaká - nur teilweise gerecht. D…

[English version] I. Mesopotamien Das Personal mesopot. Tempel setzte sich seit dem 3. Jt. bis ans Ende der mesopot. Zivilisation aus dem Kultpersonal im engeren Sinn - d. h. den P. und P.innen, die den offiziellen Kult in den Tempeln besorgten, den Kultmusikanten und Sängern - sowie dem Dienstpersonal (Hofreinigern und Hofreinigerinnen, Köchen usw.) zusammen. Hinzu kam das hierarchisch gegliederte Verwaltungs- und Wirtschaftspersonal der Tempel-Haushalte, die in Babylonien große Wirtschaftseinheite…