Chapter 21

46. On the Semitic notion of purity, W. Robertson Smith has written admirably and convincingly (pp. 446 ff. and _passim_). The question has been taken up from a different point of view by Lagrange, pp. 141 ff.--The development of the notion of purity in the ancient religions has been recently expounded by Farnell, _The Evolution of Religion_, 1905, pp. 88 ff., especially pp. 124 ff. Cf. also _supra_, p. 91 f. An example of the prohibitions and purifications is found in the Occident in an inscription, unfortunately mutilated, discovered at Rome and dedicated to Beellefarus (_CIL_, VI, 30934, 31168; cf. Lafaye, _Rev. hist. relig._, XVII, 1888, pp. 218 ff.; Dessau, _Inscr. sel._, 4343). If I have understood the text correctly it commands those who have eaten pork to purify themselves by means of honey.--On penances in the Syrian religions see ch. II, n. 31.

47. M. Clermont-Ganneau (_Etudes d'archéologie orientale_, II, 1896, p. 104) states that the epithet [Greek: hagios] is extremely rare in pagan Hellenism, and almost always betrays a Semitic influence. In such cases it corresponds to [Hebrew: QRSH], which to the Semites is the epithet _par excellence_ of the divinity. Thus Eshmon is [Hebrew: QRSH]; cf. Lidzbarski, _Ephemer. für semit. Epigraph._, II, p. 155; Clermont-Ganneau, _Recueil d'archéol. orient._, III, p. 330; V, p. 322.--In Greek Le Bas-Waddington, 2720, has: [Greek: Oi katochoi hagiou ouraniou Dios]. Dittenberger, _Orientis inscript._, 620, [Greek: Zeus hagios Beel bôsôros]. Some time ago I copied at a dealer's, a dedication engraved upon a lamp: [Greek: Theôi hagiôi Arelselôi], in Latin: J. Dolichenus _sanctus_, _CIL_, VI, 413, X, 7949.--J. Heliopolitanus _sanctissimus_, _CIL_, VIII, 2627.--"Caelestis _sancta_," VIII, 8433, etc.--The African Saturn (= Baal) is often called _sanctus_.--_Hera sancta_ beside Jupiter Dolichenus, VI, 413.--Malakbel is translated by _Sol sanctissimus_, in the bilingual inscription of the Capitol, VI, 710 = Dessau, 4337. Cf. _deus sanctus aeternus_, V, 1058, 3761, and _Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr._, 1906, p. 69.--See in general Delehaye, _Analecta Bollandiana_, 1909, pp. 157 ff. {250}

48. As curious examples of Greco-Syrian syncretism we may mention the bas-relief of Ed-Douwaïr in the Louvre, which has been analyzed in detail by Dussaud (_Notes_, pp. 89 ff.), and especially that of Homs in the Brussels museum (_ibid._, 104 ff.).

49. Macrobius, I, 23, § 11: "Ritu Assyrio magis quam Aegyptio colitur"; cf. Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 5.--"Hermetic" theories penetrated even to the Sabians of Osrhoene (Reitzenstein, _Poimandres_, 166 ff.), although their influence seems to have been merely superficial (Bousset, _Göttingische gelehrt. Anzeigen_, 1905, 704 ff.)--The existence of [Greek: katochoi] at Baetocécé and elsewhere appears to be due to Egyptian influence (Jalabert, _Mélanges de la fac. orient. de Beyrouth_, II, 1907, pp. 308 ff.). The meaning of [Greek: katochos] which has been interpreted in different ways, is established, I think, by the passages collected by Kroll, _Cat. codd. astrol. graec._, V, pars 2, p. 146; cf. Otto, _Priester und Tempel_, I, p. 119; Bouché-Leclercq, _Hist. des Lagides_, IV, p. 335. It refers to the poor, the sick and even the "illumined" living within the temple enclosures and undoubtedly supported by the clergy, as were the refugees of the Christian period who availed themselves of the right of sanctuary in the churches (cf. _Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr._, 1907, p. 454).

50. Cf. _infra_, n. 59.

51. Strabo, XVI, 1, 6. Cf. Pliny, _H. N._, VI, 6: "Durat adhuc ibi Iovis Beli templum." Cf. my _Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, pp. 35 ff.; Chapot, _Mém. soc. antiq. de France_, 1902, pp. 239 ff.; Gruppe, _Griech. Mythol._, p. 1608, n. 1.

52. Lucian, _De dea Syria_, c. 10.

53. Harnack, _Dogmengeschichte_, I, pp. 233 ff. and _passim_.

54. On the worship of Bel in Syria cf. _Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr._, 1907, pp. 447 ff.--Cf. _infra_, n. 59.

55. On the Heliopolitan triad and the addition of Mercury to the original couple see Perdrizet, _Rev. études anc._, III, 1901, p. 258; Dussaud, _Notes_, p. 24; Jalabert, _Mélanges fac. orient. de Bayrouth_, I, 1906, pp. 175 ff.--Triad of Hierapolis: Lucian, _De dea Syria_, c. 33. According to Dussaud, the three divinities came from Babylon together, _Notes_, p. 115.--The existence of a Phoenician triad (Baal, Astarte, Eshmoun or {251} Melkarth), and of a Palmyrian triad has been conjectured but without sufficient reason (_ibid._, 170, 172 ff.); the existence of Carthaginian triads is more probable (cf. Polybius, VII, 9, 11, and von Baudissin, _Iolaos_ [_Philothesia für Paul Kleinert_], 1907, pp. 5 ff.)--See in general Usener, _Dreiheit_ (Extr. _Rhein. Museum_, LVIII), 1903, p. 32. The triads continued in the theology of the "Chaldaic Oracles" (Kroll, _De orac. Chald._, 13 ff.) and a threefold division of the world and the soul was taught in the "Assyrian mysteries" (_Archiv für Religionswiss._, IX, 1906, p. 331, n. 1).

56. Boll, _Sphaera_, p. 372.--The introduction of astrology into Egypt seems to date back no further than the time of the Ptolemies.

57. The Seleucides, like the Roman emperors later, believed in Chaldean astrology (Appian., _Syr._, 28; Diodorus, II, 31, 2; cf. Riess in Pauly-Wissowa, _Realenc._, s. v. "Astrologie," col. 1814), and the kings of Commagene, as well as of a great number of Syrian cities, had the signs of the zodiac as emblems on their coins. It is even certain that this pseudo-science penetrated into those regions long before the Hellenistic period. Traces of it are found in the Old Testament (Schiaparelli; translation by Lüdke, _Die Astron. im Alten Testament_, 1904, p. 46). It modified the entire Semitic paganism. The only cult which we know in any detail, that of the Sabians, assigned the highest importance to it; but in the myths and doctrines of the others its influence is no less apparent (Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencycl._, s. v. "Dea Syria," IV, col. 2241, and s. v. "Gad"; cf. Baudissin, _Realencycl. für prot. Theol._, s. v., "Sonne," pp. 510-520). To what extent, for instance, the clergy of Emesa had been subjected to its ascendency is shown by the novel of Heliodorus, written by a priest of that city (Rohde, _Griech. Roman_^2, p. 464 [436]), and by the horoscope that put Julia Domna upon the throne (_Vita Severi_, 3, 8; cf. A. von Domaszewski, _Archiv für Religionsw._, XI, 1908, p. 223). The irresistible influence extended even to the Arabian paganism (Nöldeke in Hastings, _Encyclop. of Religion_, s. v. "Arabs," I, p. 661; compare, _Orac. Sibyll._, XIII, 64 ff., on Bostra). The sidereal character which has been attributed to the Syrian gods, was borrowed, but none the less real. From very early times the Semites worshiped the sun, {252} the moon, and the stars (see Deut. iv. 19; Job xxxi. 25), especially the planet Venus, but this cult was of secondary importance only (see W. Robertson Smith, _op. cit._, p. 135, n. 1), although it grew in proportion as the Babylonian influence became stronger. The polemics of the Fathers of the Syrian Church show how considerable its prestige was in the Christian era (cf. Ephrem, _Opera Syriaca_, Rome, 1740, II, pp. 447 ff.; the "Assyrian" Tatian, c. 9 ff., etc.).

58. Humann and Puchstein, _Reise in Klein-Asien und Nord-Syrien_, 1890, pl. XL; _Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, p. 188, fig. 8; Bouché-Leclercq, _Astrol. gr._, p. 439.

59. Cf. Wissowa, _op. cit._, p. 306-7.--On the temple of Bel at Palmyra, cf. Sobernheim, _Palmyrenische Inschriften_ (_Mitt. der vorderasiat. Gesellsch._, X), 1905, pp. 319 ff.; Lidzbarski, _Ephemeris_, I, pp. 255 ff., II, p. 280.--Priests of Bel: Clermont-Ganneau, _Recueil d'arch. orient._, VII, p. 12, 24, 364. Cf. _supra_, n. 54. The power of Palmyra under Zenobia, who ruled from the Tigris to the Nile, must have had as a corollary the establishment of an official worship that was necessarily syncretic. Hence its special importance for the history of paganism. Although the Babylonian astrology was a powerful factor in this worship, Judaism seems to have had just as great an influence in its formation. There was at Palmyra a large Jewish colony, which the writers of the Talmud considered only tolerably orthodox (Chaps, _Gli Ebrei di Palmira_ [_Rivista Israelitica_, I], Florence, 1904, pp. 171 ff., 238 f. Cf. "Palmyra" in the _Jewish Encycl._; Jewish insc. of Palmyra; Euting, _Sitzb. Berl. Acad._, 1885, p. 669; Landauer, _ibid._, 1884, pp. 933 ff.). This colony seems to have made compromises with the idolaters. On the other hand we see Zenobia herself rebuilding a synagogue in Egypt (_Revue archéologique_, XXX, 1875, p. III; _Zeitschrift für Numismatik_, V, p. 229; Dittenberger, _Orientis inscript._, 729). This influence of Judaism seems to explain the development at Palmyra of the cult of [Greek: Zeus hupsitos kai epêkoos], "he whose name is blessed in eternity." The name of Hypsistos has been applied everywhere to Jehovah and to the pagan Zeus (_supra_, p. 62, 128) at the same time. The text of Zosimus (I, 61), according to which Aurelian brought from Palmyra to Rome the statues of [Greek: Hêliou te kai Bêlou] (this has been wrongly changed to read [Greek: tou kai Bêlou]), proves that the {253} astrological religion of the great desert city recognized a supreme god residing in the highest heavens, and a solar god, his visible image and agent, according to the Semitic theology of the last period of paganism (_supra_, p. 134).

60. I have spoken of this solar eschatology in the memorial cited _infra_, n. 88.

61. This opinion is that of Posidonius (see Wendland, _Philos Schrift über die Vorsehung_, Berlin, 1892, p. 68, n. 1; 70, n. 2). It is shared by the ancient astrologers.

62. This old pagan and gnostic idea has continued to the present day in Syria among the Nosaïris; cf. Dussaud, _Histoire et religion des Nosaïris_, 1900, p. 125.

63. The belief that pious souls are guided to heaven by a psychopompus, is found not only in the mysteries of Mithra (_Mon. myst. Mithra_, I, p. 310), but also in the Syrian cults where that rôle was often assigned to the solar god, see Isid. Lévy, _Cultes syriens dans le Talmud_ (_Revue des études juives_, XLIII), 1901, p. 5, and Dussaud, _Notes_, p. 27; cf. the Le Bas-Waddington inscription, 2442:

"[Greek: Basileu despota] (= the sun), [Greek: hilathi kai didou pasin hêmin hugiên katharan, prêxis agathas kai biou telos esthlon]."--

The same idea is found in inscriptions in the Occident; as for instance in the peculiar epitaph of a sailor who died at Marseilles (Kaibel, _Inscr. gr._, XIV, 2462 = _Epigr._, 650):

"[Greek: En de [te] tethneioisin homêguri [es] ge pelousin] [Greek: doiai; tôn heterê men epichthoniê pephorêtai,] [Greek: hê d' heterê teiressi sun aitherioisi choreuei,] [Greek: ês stratiês eis eimi, lachôn theon hêgemonêa]."

It is the same term that Julian used (_Césars_, p. 336 C) in speaking of Mithra, the guide of souls: [Greek: hêgemona theon]. Cf. also _infra_, n. 66 and ch. VIII, n. 24.

64. The Babylonian origin of the doctrine that the souls returned to heaven by crossing the seven planetary spheres, has been maintained by Anz (_Zur Frage nach dem Ursprung des Gnostizismus_, 1897; cf. _Mon. myst. Mithra_, I. pp. 38 ff., p. 309; Bousset, _Die Himmelsreise der Seele_ [_Archiv für Religionsw._, IV], 1901, pp. 160 ff.) and "Gnosis" in Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclopädie_, col. 1520. It has since been denied by Reitzenstein (_Poimandres_, p. 79; cf. Kroll, _Berl. philol. Wochensch._, {254} 1906, p. 486). But although it may have been given its precise shape and been transformed by the Greeks and even by the Egyptians, I persist in believing that it is of Chaldean and religious origin. I heartily agree with the conclusions recently formulated by Bousset, (_Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen_, 1905, pp. 707 ff.). We can go farther: Whatever roots it may have had in the speculations of ancient Greece (Aristoph., _Pax_, 832, Plato, _Tim._, 42B, cf. Haussoullier, _Rev. de philol._, 1909, pp. 1 ff.), whatever traces of it may be found in other nations (Dieterich, _Mithrasliturgie_, pp. 182 ff.; _Nekyia_, p. 24, note; Rohde, _Psyche_, II, p. 131, n. 3), the idea itself of the soul rising to the divine stars after death certainly developed under the influence of the sidereal worship of the Semites to a point where it dominated all other eschatological theories. The belief in the eternity of souls is the corollary to the belief in the eternity of the celestial gods (p. 129). We cannot give the history of this conception here, and we shall limit ourselves to brief observations. The first account of this system ever given at Rome is found in "Scipio's Dream" (c. 3); it probably dates back to Posidonius of Apamea (cf. Wendland, _Die hellenistisch-römische Kultur_, p. 85, 166, n. 3, 168, n. 1), and is completely impregnated with mysticism and astrolatry. The same idea is found a little later in the astrologer Manilius (I, 758; IV, 404, etc.). The shape which it assumed in Josephus (_Bell. Judaic._, V, 1, 5, § 47) is also much more religious than philosophical and is strikingly similar to a dogma of Islam (happiness in store for those dying in battle; a Syrian [_ibid._, § 54] risks his life that his soul may go to heaven). This recalls the inscription of Antiochus of Commagene (Michel, _Recueil_, No. 735, l. 40):

[Greek: Sôma pros ouranious Dios Ôromasdou thronous theophilê psuchên propempsan eis ton apeiron aiôna koimêsetai].

It must be said that this sidereal immortality was not originally common to all men; it was reserved "omnibus qui patriam conservaverint adiuverint, auxerint" (_Somn. Scip._ c. 3, c. 8; cf. _Manil._, I, 758; Lucan, _Phars._, IX, 1 ff.; Wendland, _op. cit._, p. 85 n. 2), and this also is in conformity with the oldest Oriental traditions. The rites first used to assure immortality to kings and to make them the equals of the gods were extended little by little as a kind of privilege, to the important {255} persons of the state, and only very much later were they applied to all who died.

Regarding the diffusion of this belief from the beginning of the first century of our era, see Diels, _Elementum_, 1899, p. 73, cf. 78; Badstübner, _Beiträge zur Erklärung Senecas_, Hamburg, pp. 2 ff.--It is expressed in many inscriptions (Friedländer, _Sitteng._, III, pp. 749 ff.; Rohde, _Psyche_, p. 673, cf. 610; epitaph of Vezir-Keupru, _Studia Pontica_, No. 85; _CIL_. III (Salone), 6384; _supra_, n. 63, etc.) It gained access into Judaism and paganism simultaneously (cf. Bousset, _Die Religion des Judentums im neutest. Zeitalter_, 1903, p. 271, and, for Philo of Alexandria, Zeller, _Philos. der Griechen_, V, p. 397 and p. 297).--During the third century it was expounded by Cornelius Labeo, the source of Arnobius and Servius (Nieggetiet, _De Cornelio Labeone_ [Diss. Munster], 1908, pp. 77-86). It was generally accepted towards the end of the empire; see _infra_, n. 25.--I hope soon to have the opportunity of setting forth the development of this sidereal eschatology with greater precision in my lectures on "Astrology and Religion in Antiquity" which will appear in 1912 (chap. VI).

65. According to the doctrine of the Egyptian mysteries the Elysian Fields were in the under-world (Apul., _Metam._, XI, 6).--According to the astrological theory, the Elysian Fields were in the sphere of the fixed stars (Macrobius, _Comm. somn. Scip._, I, 11, § 8; cf. _infra_, chap. VIII, n. 25). Others placed them in the moon (Servius, _Ad Aen._, VI, 887; cf. Norden, _Vergils Buch_, VI, p. 23; Rohde, _Psyche_, pp. 609 ff.). Iamblichus placed them between the moon and the sun (Lydus, _De mens._, IV, 149, p. 167, 23, Wünsch).

66. The relation between the two ideas is apparent in the alleged account of the Pythagorean doctrine which Diogenes Laertius took from Alexander Polyhistor, and which is in reality an apocryphal composition of the first century of our era. It was said that Hermes guided the pure souls, after their separation from the body, [Greek: eis ton Hupsiston] (Diog. Laert., VIII, § 31; cf. Zeller, _Philos. der Griechen_, V, p. 106, n. 2).--On the meaning of Hypsistos, cf. _supra_, p. 128. It appears very plainly in the passage of Isaiah, xiv, 13, as rendered by the Septuagint: {256}

[Greek: Eis ton ouranon anabêsomai, epanô tôn asterôn thêsô ton thronon mou ... esomai homoios tôi Hupsistôi.]

67. Originally he was the thunder-god, in Greek [Greek: Keraunos]. Under this name he appeared for instance on the bas-relief preserved in the museum of Brussels (Dussaud, _Notes_, p. 105). Later, by a familiar process, the influence of a particular god becomes the attribute of a greater divinity, and we speak of a [Greek: Zeus Keraunios] (cf. Usener, _Keraunos_, Rhein. Museum, N. F., LX, 1901).--This Zeus Keraunios appears in many inscriptions of Syria (_CIG_, 4501, 4520; Le Bas-Waddington, 2195, 2557 _a_, 2631, 2739; cf. Roscher, _Lexikon Myth._, s. v. "Keraunos").

He is the god to whom Seleucus sacrificed when founding Seleucia (Malalas, p. 199), and a dedication to the same god has been found recently in the temple of the Syrian divinities at Rome (_supra_, n. 10).--An equivalent of the Zeus Keraunios is the Zeus [Greek: Kataibatês]--"he who descends in the lightning"--worshiped at Cyrrhus (Wroth, _Greek Coins in the British Museum_: "Galatia, Syria," p. 52 and LII; Roscher, _Lexikon_, s. v.)

68. For instance the double ax was carried by Jupiter Dolichenus (cf. _supra_, p. 147). On its significance, cf. Usener, _loc. cit._, p. 20.

69. Cf. Lidzbarski, _Balsamem, Ephem. semit. Epigr._, I, p. 251.--Ba'al Samaïn is mentioned as early as the ninth century B. C. in the inscription of Ben Hadad (Pognon, _Inscr. sémit._, 1907, pp. 165 ff.; cf. Dussaud, _Rev. archéol._, 1908, I, p. 235). In Aramaic papyri preserved at Berlin, the Jews of Elephantine call Jehovah "the god of heaven" in an address to a Persian governor, and the same name was used in the alleged edicts of Cyrus and his successors, which were inserted in the book of Esdras (i. 1; vi. 9, etc.)--If there were the slightest doubt as to the identity of the god of thunder with Baalsamin, it would be dispelled by the inscription of Et-Tayibé, where this Semitic name is translated into Greek as [Greek: Zeus megistos keraunios]; cf. Lidzbarski, _Handbuch_, p. 477, and Lagrange, _op. cit._, p. 508.

70. On the worship of Baalsamin, confused with Ahura-Mazda and transformed into _Caelus_, see _Mon. myst. Mithra_, p. 87.--The texts attesting the existence of a real cult of {257} heaven among the Semites are very numerous. Besides the ones I have gathered (_loc. cit._, n. 5); see Conybeare, _Philo about the Contemplative Life_, p. 33, n. 16; Kayser, _Das Buch der Erkenntniss der Wahrheit_, 1893, p. 337, and _infra_, n. 75. Zeus [Greek: Ouranios]: Le Bas-Waddington, 2720 _a_ (Baal of Bétocécé); Renan, _Mission de Phénicie_, p. 103.--Cf. _Archiv für Religionswissenschaft_, IX, 1906, p. 333.

71. Coins of Antiochus VIII Grypus (125-96 B. C.); Babelon, _Rois de Syrie, d'Arménie_, 1890, p. CLIV, pp. 178 ff.

72. All these qualities ascribed to the Baals by astrological paganism ([Greek: hupsistos, pantokratôr], etc.), are also the attributes which, according to the doctrine of Alexandrian Judaism, characterized Jehovah (see _supra_, n. 66). If he was originally a god of thunder, as has been maintained, the evolution of the Jewish theology was parallel to that of the pagan conceptions (see _supra_, n. 69).

73. On this subject cf. _Jupiter summus exsuperantissimus_ (_Archiv f. Religionsw._, IX), 1906, pp. 326 ff.

74. Ps.-Iamblichus, _De mysteriis_, VI, 7 (cf. Porph., _Epist. Aneb._, c. 29), notes this difference between the two religions.

75. Apul., _Met._, VIII, 25. Cf. _CIL_, III, 1090; XII, 1227 (= Dessau, 2998, 4333); Macrobius, _Comm. somn. Scipionis_, I, 14, § 2: "Nihil aliud esse deum nisi caelum ipsum et caelestia ipsa quae cernimus, ideo ut summi omnipotentiam dei ostenderet posse vix intellegi."--[Greek: Hêlios pantokratôs]: Macrob., I, 23, 21.

76. Diodorus, II, 30: [Greek: Chaldaioi tên tou kosmou phusin aidion phasin einai k. t. l.]; cf. Cicero, _Nat. deor._, II, 20, § 52 ff.; Pliny, _H. N._, II, 8, § 30. The notion of eternity was correlative with that of [Greek: heimarmenê]; cf. Ps.-Apul., _Asclep._, 40; Apul., _De deo Socratis_, c. 2: "(The planets) quae in deflexo cursu ... meatus aeternos divinis vicibus efficiunt."--This subject will be more fully treated in my lectures on "Astrology and Religion" (chaps. IV-V).

77. At Palmyra: De Vogüé, _Inscr. sem._, pp. 53 ff., etc.--On the first title, see _infra_, n. 80.

78. Note especially _CIL_, VI, 406 = 30758, where Jupiter Dolichenus is called _Aeternus conservator totius poli_. The {258} relation to heaven here remained apparent. See _Somn. Scip._, III, 4; IV, 3.

79. Cf. _Rev. archéol._, 1888, I, pp. 184 ff.; Pauly-Wissowa, s. v. "Aeternus," and _Festschrift für Otto Benndorf_, 1898, p. 291.--The idea of the eternity of the gods also appeared very early in Egypt, but it does not seem that the mysteries of Isis--in which the death of Osiris was commemorated--made it prominent, and it certainly was spread in the Occident only by the sidereal cults.

80. The question has been raised whether the epithet [Hebrew: MR' `LM'] means "lord of the world" or "lord of eternity" (cf. Lidzbarski, _Ephemeris_, I, 258; II, 297; Lagrange, p. 508), but in our opinion the controversy is to no purpose, since in the spirit of the Syrian priests the two ideas are inseparable and one expression in itself embraces both, the world being conceived as eternal (_supra_, n. 76). See for Egypt, Horapoll., _Hieroglyph._, I (serpent as symbol of the [Greek: aiôn] and [Greek: kosmos]). At Palmyra, too, the title "lord of all" is found, [Hebrew: MR' KL] (Lidzbarski, _loc. cit._); cf. Julian, Or., IV, p. 203, 5 (Hertlein): [Greek: Ho basileus tôn holôn Hêlios], and infra, n. 81; n. 87. Already at Babylon the title "lord of the universe" was given to Shamash and Hadad; see Jastrow, _Religion Babyloniens_, I, p. 254, n. 10. Nöldeke has been good enough to write me as follows on this subject: "Daran kan kein Zweifel sein, dass [Hebrew: `LM] zunächst (lange Zeit) Ewigkeit heisst, und dass die Bedeutung 'Welt' secundär ist. Ich halte es daher für so gut wie gewiss dass das palmyrenische [Hebrew: MR' `LM'], wenn es ein alter Name ist, den 'ewigen' Herrn bedeutet, wie ohne Zweifel [Hebrew: 'L `WLM], Gen., xxi. 33. Das biblische Hebräisch kennt die Bedeutung 'Welt' noch nicht, abgesehen wohl von der späten Stelle, Eccl. iii. 11. Und, so viel ich sehe, ist im Palmyrenischen sonst [Hebrew: `LM'] immer 'Ewigkeit,' z.B. in der häufigen Redensart [Hebrew: LBRYK SHMCH L`LM']. Aber das daneben vorkommende palmyr. [Hebrew: MR' KL] führt allerdings darauf, dass die palmyrenische Inschrift auch in [Hebrew: MR' `LM'] den 'Herrn der Welt' sah. Ja der syrische Uebersetzer sieht auch in jenem hebräischen [Hebrew: 'L `WLM] 'den Gott der Welt.' Das Syrische hat nämlich einen formalen Unterschied festgestellt zwischen _'[=a]l[)a]m_, dem Status absolutus, 'Ewigkeit,' und _'[=a]lm[=a]_ [_[=a]l^em[=a]_] dem Status emphaticus 'Welt.'--Sollte übrigens die {259} Bedeutung Welt diesem Worte erst durch Einfluss griechischer Speculation zu Teil geworden sein? In der Zingirli-Inschrift bedeuted [Hebrew: BTSLM] noch bloss 'in seiner Zeit.'"

81. Cf. _CIL_, III, 1090 = Dessau, _Inscr._, 2998: "Divinarum humanarumque rerum rectori." Compare _ibid._, 2999 and Cagnet, _Année épigr._, 1905, No. 235: "I. O. M., id est universitatis principi." Cf. the article of the _Archiv_ cited, n. 73. The _Asclepius_ says (c. 39), using an astrological term: "Caelestes dii catholicorum dominantur, terreni incolunt singula."