Aglibol
Palmyrene · deity · hellenistic roman palmyra · Recorded classification
Aglibol was the moon god of Palmyra, identifiable by the lunar crescent behind his shoulders. His name is usually read 'calf of Bel'. He is among the earliest securely attested Palmyrene deities, named in an inscription of 17 BCE alongside the sun god Malakbel, with whom he was venerated in the Sacred Garden (gnt' 'ilym), a sanctuary with two altars and a sacred cypress tended by the priestly tribe of the Bene Komare. Aglibol served simultaneously as the lunar partner in two triads: the great triad of Bel (with the solar Yarhibol) and the triad of the sky god Baalshamin (with Malakbel).
Domains
- moon and lunar cycle
- night sky
Powers
- to bear the light of the moon through the night
Epithets
- ʿglbwlJavier Teixidor, The Pantheon of Palmyra (EPRO 79), Leiden: Brill, 1979. (secondary)
Relations
- companion: MalakbelAglibol (moon) and Malakbel (sun) form the celebrated Palmyrene pair venerated together in the Sacred Garden and on the sacred-garden reliefs.Javier Teixidor, The Pantheon of Palmyra (EPRO 79), Leiden: Brill, 1979. (secondary)
- companion: BelAglibol completes the great triad of Bel as its lunar member.Lucinda Dirven, The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos: A Study of Religious Interaction in Roman Syria (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 138), Leiden: Brill, 1999. (secondary)
- companion: YarhibolAglibol (moon) is regularly paired beside Yarhibol (sun) as the two flanking deities of Bel.Lucinda Dirven, The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos: A Study of Religious Interaction in Roman Syria (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 138), Leiden: Brill, 1999. (secondary)
- subordinate to: BaalshaminAglibol also serves as a lesser member of the triad of the sky god Baalshamin, alongside Malakbel.Paul Collart and Jacques Vicari, Le sanctuaire de Baalshamîn à Palmyre, vol. I (Bibliotheca Helvetica Romana 10), Rome: Institut suisse de Rome, 1969. (secondary)
Sources
- Aglibol was the Palmyrene moon god, attested from 17 BCE, lunar member of the triad of Bel and of the triad of Baalshamin and the constant companion of the sun god Malakbel.: Javier Teixidor, The Pantheon of Palmyra (EPRO 79), Leiden: Brill, 1979. (secondary); H. J. W. Drijvers, The Religion of Palmyra (Iconography of Religions XV/15), Leiden: Brill, 1976. (secondary)