The Bene Komare were a
Palmyrene tribe who were attested as one of the main four tribes of Palmyra.
Name
The tribe was known as the Komare (Chomarenoi in
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
) and were only once mentioned with the Greek name Choneitai; both names mean priests. Komare is the plural of Kumra, which means priest in
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
, while Choneitai is the Greek plural of the
Canaanite Kohen, which means priest.
Origin and history
The Canaanite name occurred earlier than the Aramaic one, indicating that they were of Canaanite origin who became established in Palmyra before 32 BC. They were first mentioned in an inscription from
Dura-Europos
Dura-Europos, ; la, Dūra Eurōpus, ( el, Δούρα Ευρωπός, Doúra Evropós, ) was a Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman border city built on an escarpment above the southwestern bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the vil ...
, when in 33 BC, Maliku son of Ramu from the Komare in association with a member of the Gaddibol tribe built a temple for
Bel and
Yarhibol
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 Palmyr ...
in that city, which contained a Palmyrene trade colony. The Komare were one of the main four tribes in Palmyra which constituted the nucleus of the city's society. An inscription from November 21 AD mention that a certain Hashash son of Nesa from the Komare had a statue erected for him by his tribe and the tribe of Bene-Mattabol for his efforts in reconciling the two tribes who apparently got involved in a conflict.
The tribe was devoted to the cult of the gods
Aglibol
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 Malakbe ...
and
Malakbel
Malakbel (Arabic: ملاك بعل) 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.
Etymology
Malakbel's na ...
, and were connected with those deities temple known as the Holy Garden. The Komare were involved in the
Palmyrene caravan trade and its merchants were attested in Babylon.
References
Citations
Sources
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{{Palmyra
Palmyra
Palmyrene Empire