Yarhibol
Palmyrene · deity · hellenistic roman palmyra · deity
Yarhibol was a major Palmyrene god, by the Roman period the sun god of the triad of Bel, depicted with a radiate solar halo. His name is generally understood as 'Yarih (moon) of Bel', and his lunar onomastics together with crescents on some images point to an earlier lunar character before his assimilation to the sun. He originated as the tutelary spirit and Gad (guardian-fortune) of the Efqa spring, the perennial sulphur source on which the oasis depended, and in that capacity served as an oracular deity styled 'lord of the spring'. In the great triad he flanks Bel together with the moon god Aglibol.
Domains
- sun and solar light
- springs and sacred water
- oracles and divination
Powers
- to deliver oracular judgements at the spring
- to guard the life-giving waters of the Efqa spring
Epithets
- gd ʿyn