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Last Updated on 23 Mar 2017

Author: Benedikt Eckhardt

CAPInv. 632: U-NEA-017

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area The Near East and Beyond
ii. Region Syria
iii. Site Palmyra

II. NAME

i. Association with unknown name U-NEA-017

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 34 AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

iii. Descriptive terms מרזחא, mrzḥ’
Note mrzḥ’: PAT 0326, l. 2

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) PAT 0326 (AD 34)
Note See also CIS II 3980
Online Resources AGRW ID 9481
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Aramaic dedicatory inscription
i.c. Physical format(s) Altar

VII. ORGANIZATION

iii. Members בני מרזחא, bny mrzḥ’

IX. MEMBERSHIP

i. Number 9
ii. Gender Men
Note The attested names are male names.

X. ACTIVITIES

iii. Worship The "members of the mrzḥ’" dedicate the altar "to Aglibol and Malakbel, their gods".
Deities worshipped Aglibol and Malakbel

XII. NOTES

i. Comments According to Milik, the number of members is typical for a Semitic association, which would normally consist of 9 lay members and one leader (normally a priest; and alternative configuration would be 10 + 2 according to Milik); he points to Qumran and Dura Europos (Milik 1972: 122-40) for analogies. However, it is unclear why the leader should be absent from the dedicatory inscription, and some of the material from Dura has to be "adapted" to fit this theory.
iii. Bibliography Kaizer, T. (2002), The Religious Life of Palmyra. A Study of the Social Patterns of Worship in the Roman Period. Stuttgart (133-4).
McLaughlin, J.L. (2001), The marzēaḥ in the Prophetic Literature. References and Allusions in Light of the Extra-Biblical Evidence. Leiden/Boston (53).
Milik, J.T. (1972), Dédicaces faites par des dieux (Palmyre, Hatra, Tyr) et des thiases sémitiques à l'époque romaine. Paris (119).

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Probable
Note It is unlikely that mrzḥ’ means "feast" vel sim. in this context, so we are dealing with a defined group. Nothing suggests that it was a priestly college, so it was probably private.