Bene Komare

The Bene Komare were a Palmyrene tribe who were attested as one of the main four tribes of Palmyra.

Name

The tribe was known as the Komare (Chomarenoi in Ancient Greek) and were only once mentioned with the Greek name Choneitai; both names mean priests.^[1] Komare is the plural of Kumra, which means priest in Aramaic, while Choneitai is the Greek plural of the Canaanite Kohen, which means priest.^[1]

Origin and history

The Canaanite name occurred earlier than the Aramaic one,^[2] indicating that they were of Canaanite origin who became established in Palmyra before 32 BC.^[3] They were first mentioned in an inscription from Dura-Europos,^[4] when in 33 BC, Maliku son of Ramu from the Komare in association with a member of the Gaddibol tribe built a temple for Bel and Yarhibol in that city,^[5] which contained a Palmyrene trade colony.^[6] The Komare were one of the main four tribes in Palmyra which constituted the nucleus of the city's society.^[7] An inscription from November 21 AD mention that a certain Hashash son of Nesa from the Komare had a statue erected for him by his tribe and the tribe of Bene-Mattabol for his efforts in reconciling the two tribes who apparently got involved in a conflict.^[7]

The tribe was devoted to the cult of the gods Aglibol and Malakbel,^[8] and were connected with those deities temple known as the Holy Garden.^[9][4] The Komare were involved in the Palmyrene caravan trade and its merchants were attested in Babylon.^[10]

References

Citations

1. Gawlikowski 2003, p. 9.
2. Veyne 2017, p. 35.
3. Teixidor 1977, p. 121.
4. Gawlikowski 2003, p. 10.
5. Teixidor 1979, p. 27.
6. Edwell 2008, p. 36.
7. Teixidor 1977, p. 107.
8. Teixidor 1979, p. 35.
9. Teixidor 1977, p. 120.
10. Dirven 1999, p. 32.

Sources

• Dirven, Lucinda (1999). The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos: A Study of Religious Interaction in Roman Syria. Religions in the Graeco-Roman World. Vol. 138. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-11589-7. ISSN 0927-7633.
• Edwell, Peter (2008). Between Rome and Persia: The Middle Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Palmyra Under Roman Control. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-09573-5.
• Gawlikowski, Michał (2003). "Palmyra: From a Tribal Federation to a City". In Freyberger, Klaus Stefan; Henning, Agnes; von Hesberg, Henner (eds.). Kulturkonflikte im Vorderen Orient an der Wende vom Hellenismus zur Römischen Kaiserzeit. Orient-Archäologie. Vol. 11. Verlag Marie Leidorf. ISBN 978-3-896-46641-9. ISSN 1434-162X.
• Teixidor, Javier (1977). The Pagan God: Popular Religion in the Greco-Roman Near East. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-400-87139-1.
• Teixidor, Javier (1979). The Pantheon of Palmyra. Études préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'Empire romain. Vol. 79. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-05987-0.
• Veyne, Paul (2017) [2015]. Palmyra: An Irreplaceable Treasure. Translated by Fagan, Teresa Lavender. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-45293-7.