Malakbel

Malakbel, whose name means 'Messenger of Bel', was a Palmyrene sun god and the envoy or acolyte of the supreme god Bel. He carried a strong vegetative and fertilising aspect, expressed through his association with the sacred cypress of the Sacred Garden (gnt' 'ilym), and was depicted ascending in a chariot drawn by griffins. His cult is attested from an inscription of 17 BCE in which he is paired with the moon god Aglibol, with whom he formed an inseparable solar-lunar couple tended by the priestly Bene Komare. Through the Palmyrene merchant diaspora his cult reached Rome, where he was identified with Sol and honoured as Deus Sol Sanctissimus.

Domains

• sun and solar light
• vegetation and fertility
• divine messengership

Powers

• to carry the messages of Bel
• to bring forth growth and vegetation

Epithets

• mlkblJavier Teixidor, The Pantheon of Palmyra (EPRO 79), Leiden: Brill, 1979. (secondary)

Relations

• companion: AglibolMalakbel (sun) and Aglibol (moon) form the inseparable Palmyrene pair of the Sacred Garden reliefs.Javier Teixidor, The Pantheon of Palmyra (EPRO 79), Leiden: Brill, 1979. (secondary)
• subordinate to: BelAs 'Messenger of Bel' Malakbel is by name the acolyte and envoy of the supreme god.Javier Teixidor, The Pantheon of Palmyra (EPRO 79), Leiden: Brill, 1979. (secondary)
• subordinate to: BaalshaminMalakbel is the solar member of the triad of the sky god Baalshamin, paired there with Aglibol.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

• Malakbel, the 'Messenger of Bel', was a Palmyrene sun and vegetation god, paired with the moon god Aglibol in the Sacred Garden and later identified at Rome with Sol.: Javier Teixidor, The Pantheon of Palmyra (EPRO 79), Leiden: Brill, 1979. (secondary); Steven E. Hijmans, Sol: The Sun in the Art and Religions of Rome, Groningen: University of Groningen, 2009. (secondary)