Perun, in Slavic mythology, is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of thunder and lightning. His other attributes were fire, wind, the oak, iris, eagle, firmament (in Indo-European languages, Perun was joined with the notion of "the sky of stone") horses and carts, weapons (the hammer, axe [Perun's axe], and arrow), and war.
Of all historic records describing Slavic gods, those mentioning Perun are the most numerous. In their mytho;ogy, much like in Norse and baltic mythologies, the World is represented by a sacred tree, usually an oak, whose branches and trunk represented the living World of Heavens and Mortals, while its roots represented the Underworld, the realm of the dead. Perun was the ruler of the living world, sky and earth, and his power was often symbolized by an eagle sitting on the top of the tallest branch of the sacred tree, from which he kept watch over the entire world.
Procopious of Caesarea (500-554CE), a prominent scholar from the Byzantine province Palaestina Prima (from 390 to 7th century), wrote about Perun in his Secret History writings. A note describing the beliefs of a certain South Slavic tribes states they "acknowledged that one god of the sky, creator of lightning, and the only lord of all; to him do they sacrifice an ox and all sacrificial animals." While the god is not mentioned explicitly by name, 20th century researchers established beyond their doubt that the name of the god of thunder and lightning in Slavic mythology was Perun. Procopius received a conventional elite education in Greek classical at the famous School of Gaza, and became a barrister or advocate in his late years. He knew Latin, as was natural for a man with legal training. In 527 CE, the 1st year of Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian's reign, he became the legal advisor for Belisarius, Justinian's chief military commander who was then beginning a brilliant career. Procopius was with Belisarius on the eastern front until the military chief was defeated at the Battle of Callinicum in 531CE that took place on Easter Saturday, between the armies of the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Persians under Azarethes, the commander of the Persian army in Mesopotamia. Procopious called him an "exceptionally able warrior."In the ensuing battle, the Byzantines suffered a heavy defeat, but the Persian losses too were so high that the Persian king Kavadh (488-531CE) was so displeased with the chief and relieved him of his command.
Procopious, in his history of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of East Slavic tribes in Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th CE, relates that in the year 6,415 (907CE) prince Oleg made a peace treaty with the Bizantine Empire and by taking his men to the shrines and swearing by their weapons and by their god Perun, and by Volos, the god of cattle, they confirmed the treaty. The Byzantines attempted to poison Oleg, but the leader demonstrated his supernatural powers by refusing to drink the cup of poisoned wine. Having fixed his shield to the Gate of the Byzantine capital city, Constantinople, because of its great wealth, he won the favorable treaty, which eventually worked as of great benefit to both nations. The text of the treaty survived in the Chronicle. Oleg then is known as the Prophet, an epithet alluded to the sacred meaning of his name. It was prophesied by the mystical powers of the priest-soothsayer that Oleg would take death from his stallion. To defy the prophecies, Oleg sent the horse away. Many years later Oleg asked where his horse was, and was told it had died. Oleg asked to see the remains and was taken to the place where the bones lay. When he touched the horse's skull with his boot a snake slithered from the skull and bit him. Oleg died, thus fulfilling the prophecy. The same form of confirmation of a peace treaty was made by prince Igor in 945CE.
In 980CE, when prince Vladimir the Great came to the throne in Kiev, he erected statues of 5 of his gods, in front of his palace, being Perun the chief among them and the god was represented with a silver head and a golden moustache, which he thereafter discarded after his Christianization in 988CE.
The Greeks and East Slavs named the Vikings, who between the 9th and 11th CE ruled Kievan Rus, Varangians. They settled among many Rivers in territories of present Ukraine, Bielarus, and Russia, forming the Byzantine Varangian Guard. A group of Varangians known as the Rus then settled in Novgorod in 862CE under the leadership of Rurik. Rurik's relative Oleg conquered Kiev in 882CE and established the Kievan Rus, which was later ruled by Rurik's descendants. Engaging in trade, piracy, and mercenary activities, the Vikings roamed the River systems and controlled the Volga trade route between them and the Arabs, connecting the Baltic to the Caspian Sea, and the Dnieper and Dniester trade route between the Vikings and the Greeks, leading to the Black Sea and Constantinople. Those were the important trade links in everything, starting with religion, connecting Medieval Europe with wealthy and developed Arab Caliphates and the Byzantine Empire. Most of the silver coinage in the West came from the East via those routes.
Vladimir's uncle Dobrinja also had a shrine of Perun established in his city of Novgorod. Yaroslav the Wise was the city vice-regent at the time of his father's death in 1015CE. Subsequently, his eldest brother killed 3 of his other brothers for the sake of power. Yaroslav, with the active support of the Novgorodians and the help of the Viking mercenaries, defeated his brother and became the Grand prince of Kiev in 1019CE. Under Yaroslav (1010-1019) the codification of legal customs and princely enactments was begun, and this work served as the basis for a law code called "Rus Truth Law," among the Eastern Slavs and granted the city a number of freedoms or priviledges in relation with other princes. During his lengthy reign, Kievan Rus' reached the zenith of its cultural flowering and military power. Novgorod's size as well as its political, economical, and cultural influence made it the 2nd most important city in Kievan Rus.' His son, Vladimir, sponsored the construction of the great Sophia Cathedral, translated more accurately as the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom, which stands to this day. According to a custom, the elder son and heir of the ruling Kievan monarch was sent to rule Novgorod even as a minor. It now connects Moscow and St. Peterborough, and is one of Europe's largest cities.
The name Perun is also commonly found in Sothern Slavic toponomy. The Bulgarian and Macedonian people believe that the name of the Bulgarian mountain Pirin, one of the highest mountains of the Balkan Peninsula, was named after Perun. In medieval times, large oaks (because they attracted the lightning bolts), sacred groves, and entire villages and citadels were named after the power of Perun.
The plant Iris germanica is known as Perun's plant and was believed to grow from the ground that had been struck by lightning. Also the Serbian name Perunicic and the Macedonian name Perunovski are derived from Perun. The Bulgarian people believe that the city name "Pernik" is derived from Perun in his Slavic name form with the Slavic place name suffix -nik, or ik added, and was first mentioned in the 9th century, when it was governed by a local noble named Krakra of Pernik, withstanding Byzantine sieges a number of times.
The same type of prophecy about death of a conqueror who was invested by the power of the sky, was proclaimed about Alexander the Great to his mother at the time of his birth, he would die as soon as he accomplished his mission and return the power to its source to be used by the next conqueror or conquerors, achieving it and then returning it to the source. This cycle was broken when Christianity was born, since Christ came to the World invested with the power by which the World was made and broke the power of the sky, making to all mortals an access to the living power of Heavens that is immortal. The vessels in which our mortal existence is trap need to win the battle from the inside out in order to sustain a new type of living bodies that are able to sustain our eternal existence.
Saturday, 29 April 2017
Monday, 17 April 2017
THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS.
Salem is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, located on Massachusetts' North Shore. North Shore is the region loosely defined as the coastal area between Boston and New Hampshire. The region is made up both of a rocky coastline, dotted with marshes and wetlands, as well as several beaches and natural harbors. The communities have varied and rich histories: Gloucester was America's first fishing community; Salem was the location of the infamous Witch Trials as well as one of the largest centers of shipping and the 6th largest city in early America. The hysteria that led to the Trials began in the part of Salem that is now present-day Danvers. Lynn was once the center of the American shoe industry. Saugus is home to the first integrated ironworks in North America. Peabody had the largest concentration of leather tanneries in the World; and Beverly and Marblehead often dispute over which town was the birth place of the American Navy. Newburyport was well known for producing clipper ships and for a brief time in history was the richest city in the Union; it is also the birthplace of the United States Coast Guard. Newburyport maintains the largest collection of Federal period commercial and residential architecture in the nation.
Salem is considered one of the most significant seaports in Puritan American history. The Puritans were a group of English Reformed Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England from its Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England was only partially reformed. It started as an activist movement and after the ascension of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, Puritanism played a significant role in English history during the 1st half of the 17th century. One of the most effective stokers of anti-Catholic feeling was John Pym, whose movement succeeded in taking control of the government of London in 1641. Puritans then were blocked from changing the establish church from within and were severely restricted in England by laws controlling the practice of religion. Their beliefs were transported by the emigration of congregations to the Netherlands, Ireland and later to the Wales and the region on the North East of the United States known as New England that comprises 6 states : Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the West and South, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the North East and North, respectively. The Atlantic Ocean is to the East and South East, and Long Island Sound is to the South. Puritanism were spread into lay society and parts of the educational system, particularly certain colleges of the University of Cambridge. They were in alliance with the growing commercial world.
New England was settled by religious refugees seeking to build a pure, Bible-based society. They lived closely with the sense of the supernatural. Salem village, in particular, was known for its fractious population, who had many internal disputes. Arguments about property lines, grazing rights, and church privileges were rife, and neighbors considered the population as quarrelsome. In Massachusetts, a successful merchant class began to develop that was less religiously motivated that the colony's early settlers.
The Salem witch trials began after a group of young girls claimed to be possessed by the Devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. As a wave of hysteria spread a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft started between February 1692 and May 1693. The trials resulted in the executions of 20 people, 14 of them women, and all but one by hanging. Five others, including 2 infant children, died in prison. Twelve other women had previously been executed in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Despite being generally known as the Salem Trial, the preliminary hearings were conducted in several towns. Some 150 more men, women and children were accused.
By September 1692, the hysteria begun to abate and public opinion turned against the trials. Though the Massachusetts General Court later annulled guilty verdicts against accused individuals and granted indemnities to their families, bitterness lingered in the community, and the painful legacy would endure for centuries. The episode is one of Colonial America's most notorious cases of mass hysteria. It has been used as a vivid cautionary tale about the dangers of isolationism, religious extremism, false accusations, and lapses in due process.
John Hathorne (1641- 1717), a Puritan merchant and magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Salem was the only judge involved in the Salem Witch Trials who never repented for his actions. He is portrayed as a tall man quite sadistic and the most ignorant, antagonistic character acting as a leading judge who continually denied the witnesses any chance to redeem their names in court, as if he had already determined the outcome. He was cynical and rarely showed emotion, with the exception of the finale, where he was joyful as if Satan was the one acting in him.
Belief in the supernatural and specifically in the Devil's practice of giving certain humans the power to harm others in return for their loyalty had emerged in Europe as early as the 13th century to the end of the 16th century. The harsh realities of life in the rural Puritan communities that fueled the residents of the communities to harbor suspicions and resentment toward their neighbors included the after effect of the British war with France in the American colonies, a smallpox epidemic, fears of attacks from neighboring American tribes and the long standing rivalry with the more affluent communities.
Controversy also brewed over Reverend Samuel Parris, who became Salem's first ordained minister in 1689, and was disliked because of his rigid ways and greedy nature. The Puritan villagers believed all the quarreling were not in themselves instead it was an outside work of the Devil.
The population of the region of the New England at that time would fit into Yankee Stadium of today.
Salem is considered one of the most significant seaports in Puritan American history. The Puritans were a group of English Reformed Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England from its Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England was only partially reformed. It started as an activist movement and after the ascension of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, Puritanism played a significant role in English history during the 1st half of the 17th century. One of the most effective stokers of anti-Catholic feeling was John Pym, whose movement succeeded in taking control of the government of London in 1641. Puritans then were blocked from changing the establish church from within and were severely restricted in England by laws controlling the practice of religion. Their beliefs were transported by the emigration of congregations to the Netherlands, Ireland and later to the Wales and the region on the North East of the United States known as New England that comprises 6 states : Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the West and South, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the North East and North, respectively. The Atlantic Ocean is to the East and South East, and Long Island Sound is to the South. Puritanism were spread into lay society and parts of the educational system, particularly certain colleges of the University of Cambridge. They were in alliance with the growing commercial world.
New England was settled by religious refugees seeking to build a pure, Bible-based society. They lived closely with the sense of the supernatural. Salem village, in particular, was known for its fractious population, who had many internal disputes. Arguments about property lines, grazing rights, and church privileges were rife, and neighbors considered the population as quarrelsome. In Massachusetts, a successful merchant class began to develop that was less religiously motivated that the colony's early settlers.
The Salem witch trials began after a group of young girls claimed to be possessed by the Devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. As a wave of hysteria spread a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft started between February 1692 and May 1693. The trials resulted in the executions of 20 people, 14 of them women, and all but one by hanging. Five others, including 2 infant children, died in prison. Twelve other women had previously been executed in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Despite being generally known as the Salem Trial, the preliminary hearings were conducted in several towns. Some 150 more men, women and children were accused.
By September 1692, the hysteria begun to abate and public opinion turned against the trials. Though the Massachusetts General Court later annulled guilty verdicts against accused individuals and granted indemnities to their families, bitterness lingered in the community, and the painful legacy would endure for centuries. The episode is one of Colonial America's most notorious cases of mass hysteria. It has been used as a vivid cautionary tale about the dangers of isolationism, religious extremism, false accusations, and lapses in due process.
John Hathorne (1641- 1717), a Puritan merchant and magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Salem was the only judge involved in the Salem Witch Trials who never repented for his actions. He is portrayed as a tall man quite sadistic and the most ignorant, antagonistic character acting as a leading judge who continually denied the witnesses any chance to redeem their names in court, as if he had already determined the outcome. He was cynical and rarely showed emotion, with the exception of the finale, where he was joyful as if Satan was the one acting in him.
Belief in the supernatural and specifically in the Devil's practice of giving certain humans the power to harm others in return for their loyalty had emerged in Europe as early as the 13th century to the end of the 16th century. The harsh realities of life in the rural Puritan communities that fueled the residents of the communities to harbor suspicions and resentment toward their neighbors included the after effect of the British war with France in the American colonies, a smallpox epidemic, fears of attacks from neighboring American tribes and the long standing rivalry with the more affluent communities.
Controversy also brewed over Reverend Samuel Parris, who became Salem's first ordained minister in 1689, and was disliked because of his rigid ways and greedy nature. The Puritan villagers believed all the quarreling were not in themselves instead it was an outside work of the Devil.
The population of the region of the New England at that time would fit into Yankee Stadium of today.
THE LAST DAYS AND HOW WE SERVE GOD.
What events in our time were foretold in the Scripture? What does God's Word say people would be like in "the last days"?
The 2nd Letter from Peter is addressed to a wide circle of Christians. Its main concern is to combat the work of false teachers and the immorality which results from such teaching. The answer is found in holding to the true knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, knowledge which has been conveyed by persons who themselves have seen Jesus and have heard Him teach. The apparent delay in Christ's return is due to the fact that God does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.
2 Peter 3 says: "My dear Friends, this is now the 2nd Letter I have written you. In both Letters I have tried to arouse pure thoughts in your minds by reminding you of these things (1). Our ancestors have already died, but everything is still the same as it was since the Creation of the World! (4). First of all you must understand that in the LAST DAYS some people will appear whose lives are controlled by their own lusts (3). They purposely ignore the fact that LONG AGO God gave a Command, and HEAVENS and EARTH were created (5). The EARTH was formed OUT OF WATER and BY WATER. And it was also by water, the Water of the Flood, that the OLD WORLD was destroyed (6).
(Genesis 1: God said, "Let there be light"... God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the Midst of the Waters, and let it separate the Waters from the waters and God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day). But the HEAVENS and the EARTH that NOW exists are being preserved by the same Command of God, in order to be destroyed by Fire (7). The people whose lives are controlled by their own lusts are being kept for the DAY when godless people will be JUDGED and DESTROYED (7). There is no difference in the Lord's sight between one day and a thousand years; to HIM the two are the same." (8)
1 John 2 says: "My children, the END is near! You were told that the enemy of CHRIST would come; and now many enemies of CHRIST have already appeared, and so we know that the end is near." (18)
(Isaiah 45: 9-13 "Woe to him who strives with His Maker, an earthen vessel with the potter! Does the clay say to Him Who fashions it, 'What are you making'? or 'Your work has no handles'? Woe to him who says to a father, 'What are you begetting'? or to a woman, 'With what are you in travail'?". Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and His Maker: "Will you question ME about My children, or command ME concerning the Work of My Hands? I made the Earth, and created Man upon it; it was My Hands that stretched out the Heavens, and I commanded all their host. I have aroused Him in righteousness, and I will make straight all His Ways; He shall built My City and set My exiles free, not for price or reward," says the Lord of hosts). "We write to you about the WORD of LIFE, which has existed from the very beginning. We have heard it, and we have seen it with our eyes, and our hands have touched it. (1:1) We write this in order that our joy may be complete. Now the MESSAGE that we have heard from God's Son and announce is this: 'God is light, and there is no darkness at all in Him.(1:4) If, then, we say that we have fellowship with Him, yet at the same time live in the darkness, we are lying both in our words and in our actions. But if we live in the light -just as He is in the light- then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, purifies us from every sin." (1: 5-7) "If we obey God's Commands, then we are sure that we know Him. If we say that we know Him, but do not obey His Commands, we are liars and there is no Truth in us. But if we OBEY HIS WORD, we are the ones whose love for God has really been made perfect. This is how we can be sure that we are in union with God: if we say that we remain in union with God, we should live just as JESUS CHRIST did." (2: 3-6) "Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him."(Ro.12:1) "Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this World, but let God transform you INWARDLY by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the Will of God -what is good and is pleasing to Him and is perfect." (Ro. 2:2) "We are not like so many others, who handle GOD's MESSAGE as if it were cheap merchandise; but because God has sent us, we speak with sincerity in His Presence, as servants of CHRIST."(2Cor.2:17) "You yourself are the Letter of recommendation we have, written on our hearts for everyone to know and read. It is clear that CHRIST Himself wrote this letter and sent it by us, It is written, not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, and not on stone tablets but on human hearts."(2 Cor. 3: 2-3)"The capacity we have comes from God; it is He who made us capable of serving the New Covenant, which consist not of a written law but of the Spirit." (2 Cor. 3: 2-3)
James 4 says: "What causes wars, and what causes fights among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? You desire and and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. Unfaithful creatures! Do you not know that friendship with the World is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the World makes himself an enemy of God." (1-4)
Isaiah 46 says:"Bel bows down, Nebo stoops, their idols are on beasts and cattle; these things you carry are loaded as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop, they bow down together, they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. "Hearken to ME, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by ME from your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I AM HE, and to grey hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.
To whom will you liken ME and make ME equal, and compare ME, that we may be alike?"(1-5)
"Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship! They lift it upon their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble. Remember this and consider, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I AM GOD, and there is no other; I AM GOD, and there is none like ME, declaring the END from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My Counsel shall Stand, and I will Accomplish All My Purpose.' " (6-10
The 2nd Letter from Peter is addressed to a wide circle of Christians. Its main concern is to combat the work of false teachers and the immorality which results from such teaching. The answer is found in holding to the true knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, knowledge which has been conveyed by persons who themselves have seen Jesus and have heard Him teach. The apparent delay in Christ's return is due to the fact that God does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.
2 Peter 3 says: "My dear Friends, this is now the 2nd Letter I have written you. In both Letters I have tried to arouse pure thoughts in your minds by reminding you of these things (1). Our ancestors have already died, but everything is still the same as it was since the Creation of the World! (4). First of all you must understand that in the LAST DAYS some people will appear whose lives are controlled by their own lusts (3). They purposely ignore the fact that LONG AGO God gave a Command, and HEAVENS and EARTH were created (5). The EARTH was formed OUT OF WATER and BY WATER. And it was also by water, the Water of the Flood, that the OLD WORLD was destroyed (6).
(Genesis 1: God said, "Let there be light"... God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the Midst of the Waters, and let it separate the Waters from the waters and God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day). But the HEAVENS and the EARTH that NOW exists are being preserved by the same Command of God, in order to be destroyed by Fire (7). The people whose lives are controlled by their own lusts are being kept for the DAY when godless people will be JUDGED and DESTROYED (7). There is no difference in the Lord's sight between one day and a thousand years; to HIM the two are the same." (8)
1 John 2 says: "My children, the END is near! You were told that the enemy of CHRIST would come; and now many enemies of CHRIST have already appeared, and so we know that the end is near." (18)
(Isaiah 45: 9-13 "Woe to him who strives with His Maker, an earthen vessel with the potter! Does the clay say to Him Who fashions it, 'What are you making'? or 'Your work has no handles'? Woe to him who says to a father, 'What are you begetting'? or to a woman, 'With what are you in travail'?". Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and His Maker: "Will you question ME about My children, or command ME concerning the Work of My Hands? I made the Earth, and created Man upon it; it was My Hands that stretched out the Heavens, and I commanded all their host. I have aroused Him in righteousness, and I will make straight all His Ways; He shall built My City and set My exiles free, not for price or reward," says the Lord of hosts). "We write to you about the WORD of LIFE, which has existed from the very beginning. We have heard it, and we have seen it with our eyes, and our hands have touched it. (1:1) We write this in order that our joy may be complete. Now the MESSAGE that we have heard from God's Son and announce is this: 'God is light, and there is no darkness at all in Him.(1:4) If, then, we say that we have fellowship with Him, yet at the same time live in the darkness, we are lying both in our words and in our actions. But if we live in the light -just as He is in the light- then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, purifies us from every sin." (1: 5-7) "If we obey God's Commands, then we are sure that we know Him. If we say that we know Him, but do not obey His Commands, we are liars and there is no Truth in us. But if we OBEY HIS WORD, we are the ones whose love for God has really been made perfect. This is how we can be sure that we are in union with God: if we say that we remain in union with God, we should live just as JESUS CHRIST did." (2: 3-6) "Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him."(Ro.12:1) "Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this World, but let God transform you INWARDLY by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the Will of God -what is good and is pleasing to Him and is perfect." (Ro. 2:2) "We are not like so many others, who handle GOD's MESSAGE as if it were cheap merchandise; but because God has sent us, we speak with sincerity in His Presence, as servants of CHRIST."(2Cor.2:17) "You yourself are the Letter of recommendation we have, written on our hearts for everyone to know and read. It is clear that CHRIST Himself wrote this letter and sent it by us, It is written, not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, and not on stone tablets but on human hearts."(2 Cor. 3: 2-3)"The capacity we have comes from God; it is He who made us capable of serving the New Covenant, which consist not of a written law but of the Spirit." (2 Cor. 3: 2-3)
James 4 says: "What causes wars, and what causes fights among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? You desire and and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. Unfaithful creatures! Do you not know that friendship with the World is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the World makes himself an enemy of God." (1-4)
Isaiah 46 says:"Bel bows down, Nebo stoops, their idols are on beasts and cattle; these things you carry are loaded as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop, they bow down together, they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. "Hearken to ME, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by ME from your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I AM HE, and to grey hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.
To whom will you liken ME and make ME equal, and compare ME, that we may be alike?"(1-5)
"Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship! They lift it upon their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble. Remember this and consider, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I AM GOD, and there is no other; I AM GOD, and there is none like ME, declaring the END from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My Counsel shall Stand, and I will Accomplish All My Purpose.' " (6-10
Wednesday, 12 April 2017
ARAMEAN DEITIES.
The very few inscriptions that provide information about the Aramean religion during the 8th, 7th, and 6th centuries BC record only the religious feelings of the ruling class. No indication of what kind of religious life of the commoners might have been is ever found. The understanding of the ancient Near Eastern religion comes down to a listing of names, with occasional glimpses as to what a given deity must have meant in concrete terms to an individual.
Associations of powers from gods of various origins are frequent in the epigraphic texts as a result of confederacies in which different clans or groups would invoke their respective entities in order to warrant their mutual commitments. In this respect 'the stele of Zakkur' and the treaties concluded by Matiel, an Aramean king of Arpad, deserve special attention.
Zakkur was king of Hamath and Luath. Hostilities in this Northern part of Syria reached a dramatic point at the beginning of the 8th century. The inscription informs that Zakkur, a usurper, erected the stele for his god, Ilmer, and to express appreciation for Beelshamen's help in delivering him from his many Aramean enemies. The inscription states that Zakkur lifted his hands to the god Beelshamen, and the entity spoke to him through seers and messengers saying:"Fear not, because it was I who made you king."The two entities are mentioned again, along with Shamash and Sahar, on the right face of the stele. Ilwer is the Aramaic spelling of the ancient Mesopotamian name Ilmer, a storm god who came to be assimilated into Hadad. Beelshamen (Phoenician Baalshamim) is an epitet, meaning "lord or power of the heavens." Hadad was worshiped by the Arameans in the Syrian hinterland, and Beelshamen by the Phoenicians on the Mediterranean coast. The association of the entities could have been intended as a powerful move in order to gain to Zakkur's side the alliance of Western people.
Treaties concluded by Aramean rulers point to the active role that unseen entities played in daily life, since they were always invoked to witness the treaties, and their divine curses were called on in the event that there be any violation of the clauses. Matiel, the Aramean king of Beit Gusi, of which Arpad, some 19 miles North of Aleppo, was the capital, concluded a treaty with Ash'Ur'Nirari V. To ensure it against possible violations, the Assyrian king summoned the gods to curse Matiel "should he sin against the treaty." Sin and Hadad were called on in this particular manner:
"May the great lord Sin who dwells in Harran, clothe Mati'Ilu, his sons, his officials, and the people of his land in leprosy as in a cloak so that they have to roam the open country, and may he have no mercy on them ...May Hadad put an end on Mati'Ilu, his land and the people of his land through hunger, want, and famine, so that they eat the flesh of their sons and daughters and it taste as good to them as the flesh of spring lambs. May they be deprived of Adad's thunder so that rain be denied to them. Let dust be their food, pitch their ointment, donkey's urine their drink, rushes their clothing, let their sleeping place be in the corners of walls."
The city of Hamath was located on the Orontes River, along important trade routes, 81km/50mi inland from the Mediterranean, about 190km/118mi North of Damascus, and about 120km/75mi South of Aleppo. The oldest account of Hamath in the Scripture tells how the 12 Israelites spies came up from the South as far as "the entering in of Hamath,"referring to the Southern boundary of the territory. It was to this limit that Joshua's conquest was pushed Northward.
Toi (Tou) king of Hamath sent his son Joram(Hadoram)to congratulate King David for having defeated their common enemy Hadad'Ezer. Hamath was then an independent kingdom (2 Samuel 8:3,9,10; 1Ch. 18:3,9,10). However, during Solomon's reign the kingdom of Hamath was under Israel's control, for Solomon built storage cities in that region (2 Ch. 8:3,4). After Solomon's death, Hamath was free again.
In the 9th century BC, Jeroboam II temporarily brought Hamath again under Israelite control(2K 14:28)
About this time Hamath was described as "populous Hamath" (Amos 6:2). In the 8th century BC, the city and her neighbors, including the Ten-Tribe Kingdom of Israel, were overrun by the Assyrians in their sweep to world domination. Assyria's policy was to exchange and relocate her captives, and so people of Hamath were brought in to replace inhabitants of Samaria who, in turn, were moved to Hamath and other places (2 Ki 12:24; 19:12,13; Isa 10:9-11; 37:12,13). In the high places of Samaria, the people of Hamath then set up images of their god Ash'Ima (2 Ki. 17:29,30; 18:33,34; Isa 36:18,19)
According to an extant cuneiform inscription, after the Battle of Carchemish in 625BC (Jeremiah 46:2)
Nebuchadnezzar's forces overtook and destroyed the fleeing Egyptians in the district of Hamath.
In this same area, a few years earlier, Pharaoh Nechoh had taken King Jeho'Ahaz captive (2Ki 23:31-33). Then in 607BC, with the Fall of Jerusalem, Zedekiah and other captives were taken to Riblah in the region of Hamath, and there before his eyes Zedekiah's sons, along with other of the nobility, were put to death (2 King 25:18-21; Jeremiah 39:5,6; 52: 9,10, 24-27). Nevertheless, GOD had promised that in due time HE would restore a remnant of His captive people, including those in the land of Hamath. (Isaiah 11: 11,12)
Associations of powers from gods of various origins are frequent in the epigraphic texts as a result of confederacies in which different clans or groups would invoke their respective entities in order to warrant their mutual commitments. In this respect 'the stele of Zakkur' and the treaties concluded by Matiel, an Aramean king of Arpad, deserve special attention.
Zakkur was king of Hamath and Luath. Hostilities in this Northern part of Syria reached a dramatic point at the beginning of the 8th century. The inscription informs that Zakkur, a usurper, erected the stele for his god, Ilmer, and to express appreciation for Beelshamen's help in delivering him from his many Aramean enemies. The inscription states that Zakkur lifted his hands to the god Beelshamen, and the entity spoke to him through seers and messengers saying:"Fear not, because it was I who made you king."The two entities are mentioned again, along with Shamash and Sahar, on the right face of the stele. Ilwer is the Aramaic spelling of the ancient Mesopotamian name Ilmer, a storm god who came to be assimilated into Hadad. Beelshamen (Phoenician Baalshamim) is an epitet, meaning "lord or power of the heavens." Hadad was worshiped by the Arameans in the Syrian hinterland, and Beelshamen by the Phoenicians on the Mediterranean coast. The association of the entities could have been intended as a powerful move in order to gain to Zakkur's side the alliance of Western people.
Treaties concluded by Aramean rulers point to the active role that unseen entities played in daily life, since they were always invoked to witness the treaties, and their divine curses were called on in the event that there be any violation of the clauses. Matiel, the Aramean king of Beit Gusi, of which Arpad, some 19 miles North of Aleppo, was the capital, concluded a treaty with Ash'Ur'Nirari V. To ensure it against possible violations, the Assyrian king summoned the gods to curse Matiel "should he sin against the treaty." Sin and Hadad were called on in this particular manner:
"May the great lord Sin who dwells in Harran, clothe Mati'Ilu, his sons, his officials, and the people of his land in leprosy as in a cloak so that they have to roam the open country, and may he have no mercy on them ...May Hadad put an end on Mati'Ilu, his land and the people of his land through hunger, want, and famine, so that they eat the flesh of their sons and daughters and it taste as good to them as the flesh of spring lambs. May they be deprived of Adad's thunder so that rain be denied to them. Let dust be their food, pitch their ointment, donkey's urine their drink, rushes their clothing, let their sleeping place be in the corners of walls."
The city of Hamath was located on the Orontes River, along important trade routes, 81km/50mi inland from the Mediterranean, about 190km/118mi North of Damascus, and about 120km/75mi South of Aleppo. The oldest account of Hamath in the Scripture tells how the 12 Israelites spies came up from the South as far as "the entering in of Hamath,"referring to the Southern boundary of the territory. It was to this limit that Joshua's conquest was pushed Northward.
Toi (Tou) king of Hamath sent his son Joram(Hadoram)to congratulate King David for having defeated their common enemy Hadad'Ezer. Hamath was then an independent kingdom (2 Samuel 8:3,9,10; 1Ch. 18:3,9,10). However, during Solomon's reign the kingdom of Hamath was under Israel's control, for Solomon built storage cities in that region (2 Ch. 8:3,4). After Solomon's death, Hamath was free again.
In the 9th century BC, Jeroboam II temporarily brought Hamath again under Israelite control(2K 14:28)
About this time Hamath was described as "populous Hamath" (Amos 6:2). In the 8th century BC, the city and her neighbors, including the Ten-Tribe Kingdom of Israel, were overrun by the Assyrians in their sweep to world domination. Assyria's policy was to exchange and relocate her captives, and so people of Hamath were brought in to replace inhabitants of Samaria who, in turn, were moved to Hamath and other places (2 Ki 12:24; 19:12,13; Isa 10:9-11; 37:12,13). In the high places of Samaria, the people of Hamath then set up images of their god Ash'Ima (2 Ki. 17:29,30; 18:33,34; Isa 36:18,19)
According to an extant cuneiform inscription, after the Battle of Carchemish in 625BC (Jeremiah 46:2)
Nebuchadnezzar's forces overtook and destroyed the fleeing Egyptians in the district of Hamath.
In this same area, a few years earlier, Pharaoh Nechoh had taken King Jeho'Ahaz captive (2Ki 23:31-33). Then in 607BC, with the Fall of Jerusalem, Zedekiah and other captives were taken to Riblah in the region of Hamath, and there before his eyes Zedekiah's sons, along with other of the nobility, were put to death (2 King 25:18-21; Jeremiah 39:5,6; 52: 9,10, 24-27). Nevertheless, GOD had promised that in due time HE would restore a remnant of His captive people, including those in the land of Hamath. (Isaiah 11: 11,12)
THE SONS OF ARAM.
A'Ram (highland, high, exalted) is the last son listed of Shem's five sons. Shem is one of Noah's three sons and the Scripture says, "from these all the earth's population spread abroad" following the global Flood.
Genesis 6 says, "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that HE had made man on earth, and it grieved Him to His Heart. So the LORD said, 'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I AM SORRY that I HAVE MADE THEM."(6:5-8)
After creating the first couple, GOD said:"Here I have given to you all vegetation bearing seed which is on the surface of the whole earth and every tree on which there is the fruit of a tree bearing seed.To you let it serve as food." To the first man HE also said:"From every tree of the garden you may eat plenty to satisfaction," adding a prohibition on one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and bad (Genesis1:29, 30; 2:16,17). From that time until the Flood, the Scripture gives no indication that man included the flesh of animals in his diet. A distinction was made between clean and unclean animals with regard to animals used for sacrificial purposes (Genesis 7:2). When Noah was commanded to take the animals into the Ark, GOD told Noah:"As for you, take for yourself every sort of food that is eaten; and you must gather it to yourself, and it must serve as food for you and for them(Genesis 6:21). After the Flood GOD allowed man to add flesh to his diet, saying:"Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for you. And in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to you. Only flesh with its soul -its blood- you must not eat"(Genesis 9:3,4).
Although Noah's three sons are consistently listed as "Shem, Ham and Japhet,"there is some uncertainty as to their relative positions according to age. The fact that Shem is mentioned first is of itself no definite indication that Shem was Noah's firstborn, since Shem's own firstborn son, Arpach'Shad, is listed 3rd in the genealogical records.
Genesis 10 says, "To Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. The son of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpach'Shad, Lud, and Aram. The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan. Joktan became the father of Almo'Dad, She'Leph, Hazarma'Veth, Jerah, Hador'Am, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abim'a-El, Sheba, Ophir, Hav'I-Lah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan." (10: 21-30)
The Scripture says that Noah began to father sons after reaching 500 years of age, the Flood occurring in his 600th year (Genesis 5:32; 7:6). Already married at the time of the Flood (Genesis 6:18), Shem is stated to have fathered his first son, Arpach'Shad, two years after the Flood when he (Shem) was 100 years old (Genesis 11:10). This means that Shem was born when Noah was 502 years of age and, since Ham appears to be referred to as the "youngest son"(Genesis 9:24), Japheth would be the first son born to Noah, when he was 500 years of age.
1Chronicles 1 says, "The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpach'Shad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. Arpach'Shad was the father of Eber. To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg (for in his days the earth was divided), and the name of his brother Joktan. Joktan was the father of Almo'Dad, Sheleph, Hazarma'Veth, Jerah, Hador'Am, Uzal, Diklah, Ebal, Abim'a-El, Sheba, Ophir, Hav'I-Lah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan." (1:17-23)
Following the birth of Arpach'Shad, other sons and daughters were born to Shem, including Elam, Asshur, Lud and Aram (Genesis 10:22; 11:11). After Aram, the parallel account at 1 Chronicles 1:17 also lists "Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash," but at Genesis 10:23 these are shown to be the sons of Aram.
1Chronicles 1 also says, "Shem, Arpach'Shad, Shelah; Eber, Peleg, Re'U; Serug, Nahor, Terah; Abram, that is, Abraham. (24)
Aram and his four sons, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash, constituted 5 of the 70 post-Flood families, and their descendants were the Arameans and Syrians. A'Ram, used alone, applies to Syria. It includes the region from Lebanon Mountains across to Mesopotamia and from the Taurus Mountains in the North down to Damascus and beyond in the South. Aram-Naharaim in Greek is "Mesopotamia," which is understood to refer to "land between Rivers." The two Rivers were the Euphrates and the Tigris.
Stephen speaks of Abraham as living in Mesopotamia while yet down in Ur of the Chaldeans (Acts 7:2), and when sending his servant to seek a wife for Isaac many years later, Abraham told his servant to go to the city of Nahor in Upper Mesopotamia (Aram-Naharaim) (Genesis 24:2-4,10)
Paddan-Aram is used with reference to the area around the city of Haran in Upper Mesopotamia (Aram-Naharaim) (Genesis 25:20; 28:2-7,10). The Arameans were to be found throughout all these areas. Additionally, the name Uz, one of A'Ram's 4 sons, is applied to the area of the Arabian Desert East of the Promised Land and touching on the borders of Edom (Job 1:1; Lamentations 4:21).
Aramaic's language was closely related to Hebrew and in time became an international language of both trade and diplomacy throughout the regions of the Fertile Crescent. (2 Kings 18:26) Aramaic was employed particularly from the 2nd millennium BC to about 500 CE. It is one of the three languages in which the Scripture was originally written.
Biblical Aramaic, formerly called Chaldee, is found in Ezra 4:8 to 6:18 and 7:12-26; Jeremiah 10:11; and Daniel 2:4 to 7:28. The Hebrew word "Ara-mith" occurs five times and is translated "in the Syrian language" or "in the Aramaic language." (2Kings 18:26; Isa 36:11; Daniel 2:4; Ezra4:7[twice])
Aramean kingdoms begin to be mentioned in the Scripture contemporaneously with the development of the nation of Israel.
Genesis 6 says, "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that HE had made man on earth, and it grieved Him to His Heart. So the LORD said, 'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I AM SORRY that I HAVE MADE THEM."(6:5-8)
After creating the first couple, GOD said:"Here I have given to you all vegetation bearing seed which is on the surface of the whole earth and every tree on which there is the fruit of a tree bearing seed.To you let it serve as food." To the first man HE also said:"From every tree of the garden you may eat plenty to satisfaction," adding a prohibition on one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and bad (Genesis1:29, 30; 2:16,17). From that time until the Flood, the Scripture gives no indication that man included the flesh of animals in his diet. A distinction was made between clean and unclean animals with regard to animals used for sacrificial purposes (Genesis 7:2). When Noah was commanded to take the animals into the Ark, GOD told Noah:"As for you, take for yourself every sort of food that is eaten; and you must gather it to yourself, and it must serve as food for you and for them(Genesis 6:21). After the Flood GOD allowed man to add flesh to his diet, saying:"Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for you. And in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to you. Only flesh with its soul -its blood- you must not eat"(Genesis 9:3,4).
Although Noah's three sons are consistently listed as "Shem, Ham and Japhet,"there is some uncertainty as to their relative positions according to age. The fact that Shem is mentioned first is of itself no definite indication that Shem was Noah's firstborn, since Shem's own firstborn son, Arpach'Shad, is listed 3rd in the genealogical records.
Genesis 10 says, "To Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. The son of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpach'Shad, Lud, and Aram. The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan. Joktan became the father of Almo'Dad, She'Leph, Hazarma'Veth, Jerah, Hador'Am, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abim'a-El, Sheba, Ophir, Hav'I-Lah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan." (10: 21-30)
The Scripture says that Noah began to father sons after reaching 500 years of age, the Flood occurring in his 600th year (Genesis 5:32; 7:6). Already married at the time of the Flood (Genesis 6:18), Shem is stated to have fathered his first son, Arpach'Shad, two years after the Flood when he (Shem) was 100 years old (Genesis 11:10). This means that Shem was born when Noah was 502 years of age and, since Ham appears to be referred to as the "youngest son"(Genesis 9:24), Japheth would be the first son born to Noah, when he was 500 years of age.
1Chronicles 1 says, "The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpach'Shad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. Arpach'Shad was the father of Eber. To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg (for in his days the earth was divided), and the name of his brother Joktan. Joktan was the father of Almo'Dad, Sheleph, Hazarma'Veth, Jerah, Hador'Am, Uzal, Diklah, Ebal, Abim'a-El, Sheba, Ophir, Hav'I-Lah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan." (1:17-23)
Following the birth of Arpach'Shad, other sons and daughters were born to Shem, including Elam, Asshur, Lud and Aram (Genesis 10:22; 11:11). After Aram, the parallel account at 1 Chronicles 1:17 also lists "Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash," but at Genesis 10:23 these are shown to be the sons of Aram.
1Chronicles 1 also says, "Shem, Arpach'Shad, Shelah; Eber, Peleg, Re'U; Serug, Nahor, Terah; Abram, that is, Abraham. (24)
Aram and his four sons, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash, constituted 5 of the 70 post-Flood families, and their descendants were the Arameans and Syrians. A'Ram, used alone, applies to Syria. It includes the region from Lebanon Mountains across to Mesopotamia and from the Taurus Mountains in the North down to Damascus and beyond in the South. Aram-Naharaim in Greek is "Mesopotamia," which is understood to refer to "land between Rivers." The two Rivers were the Euphrates and the Tigris.
Stephen speaks of Abraham as living in Mesopotamia while yet down in Ur of the Chaldeans (Acts 7:2), and when sending his servant to seek a wife for Isaac many years later, Abraham told his servant to go to the city of Nahor in Upper Mesopotamia (Aram-Naharaim) (Genesis 24:2-4,10)
Paddan-Aram is used with reference to the area around the city of Haran in Upper Mesopotamia (Aram-Naharaim) (Genesis 25:20; 28:2-7,10). The Arameans were to be found throughout all these areas. Additionally, the name Uz, one of A'Ram's 4 sons, is applied to the area of the Arabian Desert East of the Promised Land and touching on the borders of Edom (Job 1:1; Lamentations 4:21).
Aramaic's language was closely related to Hebrew and in time became an international language of both trade and diplomacy throughout the regions of the Fertile Crescent. (2 Kings 18:26) Aramaic was employed particularly from the 2nd millennium BC to about 500 CE. It is one of the three languages in which the Scripture was originally written.
Biblical Aramaic, formerly called Chaldee, is found in Ezra 4:8 to 6:18 and 7:12-26; Jeremiah 10:11; and Daniel 2:4 to 7:28. The Hebrew word "Ara-mith" occurs five times and is translated "in the Syrian language" or "in the Aramaic language." (2Kings 18:26; Isa 36:11; Daniel 2:4; Ezra4:7[twice])
Aramean kingdoms begin to be mentioned in the Scripture contemporaneously with the development of the nation of Israel.
Tuesday, 11 April 2017
THE CITY OF PALMYRA.
PALMYRA is an ancient city of Central Syria, located in an oasis 210km/130mi North East of Damascus.
Once dubbed the "Bride of the Desert," Palmyra was a vital stop for caravans crossing the Syrian Desert.
Palmyra is the Greek name for the city, a translation of its original Aramaic name, Tadmor, which means "Palm Tree."
Palmyra is mentioned in tablets dating as early as the 20 century BC, when it was a trading city in the extensive trade network that linked Mesopotamia and Northern Syria. Palmyra appears in 2 Chronicles, chapter 8, as a desert city being fortified by Solomon. The Chronicles describe the rule of Solomon as King of Israel, records the revolt of the Northern Tribes led by Jeroboam against Rehoboam, Solomon's son and successor, and continues an account of the kingdom of Judah until the Fall of Jerusalem. There is also a mention of a city of Tamar in 1Kings 9, also fortified by Solomon.
The Aramean city of Tadmor (Palmyra) began to attain prominence in the 3rd century BC, when a road through it became one of the main routes of East-West trade. It was built on an oasis lying approximately halfway between the Mediterranean Sea in the West and the Euphrates River in the East, and thus helped connect the Western World with the Orient. When the Seleucids took Syria in 323BC, Palmyra remained autonomous and continued to flourish as an important caravan stop. Mark Antony tried to occupy Palmyra in 41BC but failed. The Palmyrians had advance warning and had escaped to the other side of the Euphrates by the time he arrived, which indicates that Palmyra's valuables were able to move at short notice. During the reign of Tiberius (14-37CE), Palmyra was made part of the Roman province of Syria. Palmyra then steadily grew in importance as a trade route linking Persia, India, China, and the Roman empire. Hadrian visited Palmyra in 129CE and was so impressed that he proclaimed it a free city and renamed it Palmyra Hadriana. The emperor Caracalla made Palmyra a colonia, which meant exemption from paying taxes to the empire. The 2nd and 3rd centuries CE were the golden age of Palmyra, when it flourished through its extensive trading and favored status under the Romans.
The main god of the Arameans at Palmyra was Bol. He soon became known as Bel by assimilation to the Babylonian god Bel-Marduk; both gods presided over the movements of the stars. Ruins of the temple of Bel can still be seen today. The ancient ruins at the site today show the several temples that the Palmyrians dedicated to its Aramean, Babylonian, and Mesopotamian deities. The site is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Syria.
The language of Palmyra was Aramaic. Its two systems of writing, a monumental script and a Mesopotamian cursive, reflect the city's position between East and West.
Palmyra's trade began to diminish in the early 3rd century CE, when the Persian Sassanids occupied the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates and closed the caravan road that passed through Palmyra (227CE).
In 255CE, Septimus Oda'Enathus was appointed governor of Syria Phoenice, based in Palmyra, Five years later, he was made Governor of all the East.
In 266 Oda'Enathus and his elder son were killed by assassination. Power fell to his infant son, but Oda'Enathus' wife, Zenobia, became the effective ruler. Some believe she was the one who hired the assassin. The ambitious Zenobia was half-Greek and half-Arab and claimed to be descended from Cleopatra. She was exceptionally intelligent and an eloquent speaker of Aramean Palmyrian, Greek, and Egyptian, and very attractive. Philosophers, scholars, and theologians were in her court. She was an effective ruler and her armies conquered most of Anatolia (Asia Minor) in 270CE, and the city declared its independence from Rome. Zenobia had her sights set on Antioch when she was captured in 272CE. She was sent to Rome, where she was paraded in golden chains as emperor Aurelian's trophy.
There are two stories of Zenobia's last days: she either lived confortably in Rome in a villa provided by the emperor or she starved/poisoned herself to death. A year later, Palmyra was destroyed and the inhabitants slaughtered.
In the 6th century CE, Palmyra's defences wre rebuilt by emperor Justinian and a few Byzantine churches were built, but most of the city remained in ruins. In 634CE, Palmyra was taken by the Muslim Arabs in the name of the first Muslim caliph, Abu Bakr. A castle was built on top of a mountain overlooking the oasis. Surrounded by a moat, the castle was accessible only through a drawbridge.
In 1089CE, a major earthquake destroyed what was left of Palmyra. In 1678, Palmyra was found again by two English merchants living in Aleppo. As usual, excavations at what was suppose to be sealed and never open, started in 1924. The ancient ruins were unearthed and declared UNESCO World Heritage by the people of the Western World. The extensive ruins somehow reveal the network plan of the ancient evil power that once stood at the crossroads of several civilizations.
Once dubbed the "Bride of the Desert," Palmyra was a vital stop for caravans crossing the Syrian Desert.
Palmyra is the Greek name for the city, a translation of its original Aramaic name, Tadmor, which means "Palm Tree."
Palmyra is mentioned in tablets dating as early as the 20 century BC, when it was a trading city in the extensive trade network that linked Mesopotamia and Northern Syria. Palmyra appears in 2 Chronicles, chapter 8, as a desert city being fortified by Solomon. The Chronicles describe the rule of Solomon as King of Israel, records the revolt of the Northern Tribes led by Jeroboam against Rehoboam, Solomon's son and successor, and continues an account of the kingdom of Judah until the Fall of Jerusalem. There is also a mention of a city of Tamar in 1Kings 9, also fortified by Solomon.
The Aramean city of Tadmor (Palmyra) began to attain prominence in the 3rd century BC, when a road through it became one of the main routes of East-West trade. It was built on an oasis lying approximately halfway between the Mediterranean Sea in the West and the Euphrates River in the East, and thus helped connect the Western World with the Orient. When the Seleucids took Syria in 323BC, Palmyra remained autonomous and continued to flourish as an important caravan stop. Mark Antony tried to occupy Palmyra in 41BC but failed. The Palmyrians had advance warning and had escaped to the other side of the Euphrates by the time he arrived, which indicates that Palmyra's valuables were able to move at short notice. During the reign of Tiberius (14-37CE), Palmyra was made part of the Roman province of Syria. Palmyra then steadily grew in importance as a trade route linking Persia, India, China, and the Roman empire. Hadrian visited Palmyra in 129CE and was so impressed that he proclaimed it a free city and renamed it Palmyra Hadriana. The emperor Caracalla made Palmyra a colonia, which meant exemption from paying taxes to the empire. The 2nd and 3rd centuries CE were the golden age of Palmyra, when it flourished through its extensive trading and favored status under the Romans.
The main god of the Arameans at Palmyra was Bol. He soon became known as Bel by assimilation to the Babylonian god Bel-Marduk; both gods presided over the movements of the stars. Ruins of the temple of Bel can still be seen today. The ancient ruins at the site today show the several temples that the Palmyrians dedicated to its Aramean, Babylonian, and Mesopotamian deities. The site is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Syria.
The language of Palmyra was Aramaic. Its two systems of writing, a monumental script and a Mesopotamian cursive, reflect the city's position between East and West.
Palmyra's trade began to diminish in the early 3rd century CE, when the Persian Sassanids occupied the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates and closed the caravan road that passed through Palmyra (227CE).
In 255CE, Septimus Oda'Enathus was appointed governor of Syria Phoenice, based in Palmyra, Five years later, he was made Governor of all the East.
In 266 Oda'Enathus and his elder son were killed by assassination. Power fell to his infant son, but Oda'Enathus' wife, Zenobia, became the effective ruler. Some believe she was the one who hired the assassin. The ambitious Zenobia was half-Greek and half-Arab and claimed to be descended from Cleopatra. She was exceptionally intelligent and an eloquent speaker of Aramean Palmyrian, Greek, and Egyptian, and very attractive. Philosophers, scholars, and theologians were in her court. She was an effective ruler and her armies conquered most of Anatolia (Asia Minor) in 270CE, and the city declared its independence from Rome. Zenobia had her sights set on Antioch when she was captured in 272CE. She was sent to Rome, where she was paraded in golden chains as emperor Aurelian's trophy.
There are two stories of Zenobia's last days: she either lived confortably in Rome in a villa provided by the emperor or she starved/poisoned herself to death. A year later, Palmyra was destroyed and the inhabitants slaughtered.
In the 6th century CE, Palmyra's defences wre rebuilt by emperor Justinian and a few Byzantine churches were built, but most of the city remained in ruins. In 634CE, Palmyra was taken by the Muslim Arabs in the name of the first Muslim caliph, Abu Bakr. A castle was built on top of a mountain overlooking the oasis. Surrounded by a moat, the castle was accessible only through a drawbridge.
In 1089CE, a major earthquake destroyed what was left of Palmyra. In 1678, Palmyra was found again by two English merchants living in Aleppo. As usual, excavations at what was suppose to be sealed and never open, started in 1924. The ancient ruins were unearthed and declared UNESCO World Heritage by the people of the Western World. The extensive ruins somehow reveal the network plan of the ancient evil power that once stood at the crossroads of several civilizations.
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