890 Baitytoi) Baity lia, and Zeus Bitylos
S. A. Cook1 reminds us that Ishitmbethel at Elephantine is strictly
's-m-bethel, where vocalisation and meaning are alike uncertain.
For, while some take 's-m to be the Hebrew shem, 'Name,' a
reverential substitute for a divine name, he would prefer to write
Ashima-bethel^. The choice between the Greek and the Semitic
interpretation of Symbetylos is indeed far from simple.
More to our purpose, however, is a quadrangular altar (p'j2m
AMCTTAUJ
mum®
Fig. 721.
high) found in the sanctuary of the Palmyrene gods at Dui"a'
Europos (fig. 721)3. It is dedicated by a Syrian legionary, Aurelius
1 S. A. Cook The Religion of Ancient Palestine in the Light of Archaeology
1930 pp. 144 f., 150f.
2 Id. in The Cambridge Ancient History Cambridge 1925 iii. 429, 1927 vi. 143, '^"'^
3 H. Seyrig in The Excavations at Dura-Europos {Preliminary Report of FoW
Season of Work October 1930—March 1931 ed. by P. V. C. Baur—M. I. Rostovtzeff'J'
A. R. Bellinger) Yale Univ. Press 1933 pp. 68—71 no. 168 with pi. 15, 1 (=my fig- 72 j
©e$ Trarptpy \ Ad HeTv\(p | rdv irpbs t^j | 'Opovrr) Avp(7]\cos) | Ai0t\tai'6s arpa.{rL^T7i ^
\ey(cQvos) 5' 2ku(0ikt5$) 'AvT^veiviavijs) j eu^dfj.evos \ av£dt]Kev, 'To [his] national 6^
Zeus Bclylos, [god] of the dwellers along the Orontes, Aurelius Diphilianus, soldie'
the 4th Legion Scythica Antoniniana, in fulfilment of a vow dedicated [this altar].
S. A. Cook1 reminds us that Ishitmbethel at Elephantine is strictly
's-m-bethel, where vocalisation and meaning are alike uncertain.
For, while some take 's-m to be the Hebrew shem, 'Name,' a
reverential substitute for a divine name, he would prefer to write
Ashima-bethel^. The choice between the Greek and the Semitic
interpretation of Symbetylos is indeed far from simple.
More to our purpose, however, is a quadrangular altar (p'j2m
AMCTTAUJ
mum®
Fig. 721.
high) found in the sanctuary of the Palmyrene gods at Dui"a'
Europos (fig. 721)3. It is dedicated by a Syrian legionary, Aurelius
1 S. A. Cook The Religion of Ancient Palestine in the Light of Archaeology
1930 pp. 144 f., 150f.
2 Id. in The Cambridge Ancient History Cambridge 1925 iii. 429, 1927 vi. 143, '^"'^
3 H. Seyrig in The Excavations at Dura-Europos {Preliminary Report of FoW
Season of Work October 1930—March 1931 ed. by P. V. C. Baur—M. I. Rostovtzeff'J'
A. R. Bellinger) Yale Univ. Press 1933 pp. 68—71 no. 168 with pi. 15, 1 (=my fig- 72 j
©e$ Trarptpy \ Ad HeTv\(p | rdv irpbs t^j | 'Opovrr) Avp(7]\cos) | Ai0t\tai'6s arpa.{rL^T7i ^
\ey(cQvos) 5' 2ku(0ikt5$) 'AvT^veiviavijs) j eu^dfj.evos \ av£dt]Kev, 'To [his] national 6^
Zeus Bclylos, [god] of the dwellers along the Orontes, Aurelius Diphilianus, soldie'
the 4th Legion Scythica Antoniniana, in fulfilment of a vow dedicated [this altar].