Editing Zenobia (section)

==Name, appearance and sources==

Zenobia was born c. 240–241,{{sfn|Southern|2008|pp= [https://books.google.com/books?id=ecfiAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 3], [https://books.google.com/books?id=ecfiAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA173 173]}} and bore the [[Roman naming conventions#Nomen|gentilicium]] (surname) Septimia.{{#tag:ref|"Septimius" was also Odaenathus' family's [[Roman naming conventions#Nomen|gentilicium]] (surname) adopted as an expression of loyalty to the Roman [[Severan dynasty]],{{sfn|Shahîd|1995|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=BEvEV9OVzacC&pg=PA296 296]}} whose emperor [[Septimius Severus]] granted the family [[Roman citizenship]] in the late second century.{{sfn|Matyszak|Berry|2008|p=244}}|group=note}}{{sfn|Sartre|2005|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=9y7nTpFcN3AC&pg=PA551 551]}} Her native Palmyrene name was Bat-Zabbai (written "Btzby" in the [[Palmyrene alphabet]]),{{sfn|Edwell|2007|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DQgmOZlsEWcC&pg=PA230 230]}} an [[Western Aramaic languages|Aramaic]] name meaning "daughter of Zabbai".{{sfn|Stoneman|2003|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=8kLFfE1qPhIC&pg=PA2 2]}} Such compound names for women were common in Palmyra, where the element "bt" means daughter, but the personal name that follows does not necessarily denote the immediate father, rather referring to the ancestor of the family.{{sfn|Stark|1971|p=80}} In [[Ancient Greek|Greek]]—Palmyra's [[Lingua franca|diplomatic]] and second language, used in many Palmyrene inscriptions—she used the name Zenobia.{{sfn|Weldon|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=5fPHAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA106 106]}} In Palmyra, when written in Greek, names such as Zabeida, Zabdila, Zabbai or Zabda were often transformed into "Zenobios" (masculine) and "Zenobia" (feminine).{{sfn|Teixidor|2005|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=oZcr7SzzVYYC&pg=PA201 201]}} The element "Zabbai" from Zenobia's native name means "gift of N.N. [god]",{{#tag:ref|N.N. is a grammatical abbreviation denoting "no name", indicating hypocoristica, where a compound name is abbreviated by dropping its theophoric (deity name) element.{{sfn|Jackson|1983|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=leQtcmpcQ-EC&pg=PA509 509]}}{{sfn|Coogan|1976|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=fAD1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 111]}}|group=note}}{{sfn|Stark|1971|p=86}} and the name Zenobia translates to "one whose life derives from [[Zeus]]".{{sfn|Weldon|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=5fPHAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA106 106]}} The historian [[Victor Duruy]] believed that the queen used the Greek name as a translation of her native name, in deference to her Greek subjects.{{sfn|Duruy|1883|p= [https://archive.org/stream/p2historyofromeo07duru#page/n7/mode/2up 295]}} The philologist [[Wilhelm Dittenberger]] argued that the name Bat-Zabbai underwent a detortum (twist), thus resulting in the name Zenobia.{{sfn|Macurdy|1937|p= [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015019188914;view=1up;seq=150 126]}}

The ninth-century historian [[al-Tabari]], in his highly fictionalized account,{{sfn|Millar|1993|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=IA-YlZqHv90C&pg=PA433 433]}} wrote that the queen's name was Na'ila al-Zabba'.{{sfn|Powers|2010|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=A7joBeDsajcC&pg=PA148 148]}} [[Manichaeism|Manichaean]] sources, reporting the visit of the apostle Addai to the region during the time of Odaenathus, called Zenobia "Queen Tadi", wife of kysr (caesar).{{#tag:ref|Mainly texts written in [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] from the [[Turpan|Turfan Oasis]]; they were included in the series named ''Berliner Turfantexte'' launched in 1971.{{sfn|Lieu|1998|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=Yl2DteLY8jcC&pg=PA37 37]}}|group=note}} The name given to Zenobia in those Manichaean writings seems to derive from Tadmor, Palmyra's native name, and this is supported by the Coptic ''Acts Codex'', where Zenobia is named Queen Thadmor.{{sfn|Gardner|2020|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZG_CDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 56]}}

No contemporary statues of Zenobia have been found in Palmyra or elsewhere, only inscriptions on statues bases survive, indicating that a statue of the queen once stood in the place; most known representations of Zenobia are the idealized portraits of her found on her coins.{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA3 3]}} Sculptures of Palmyrene style were normally impersonal, unlike Greek and Roman ones: a statue of Zenobia in this style would have given an idea of her general style in dress and jewelry but would not have revealed her true appearance.{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA3 3]}} The non-contemporary historian [[Edward Gibbon]] has described her as being “of a dark complexion” and considered “most lovely,” and that she “equalled in beauty her [claimed] ancestor Cleopatra.”{{sfn|Gibbon|1776|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aLcWAAAAQAAJ&pg=307 307]}} British scholar [[William Wright (orientalist)|William Wright]] visited Palmyra toward the end of the nineteenth century in a vain search for a sculpture of the queen.{{sfn|Southern|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DqMrR29Cc7MC&pg=PA16 16]}}

In addition to archaeological evidence, Zenobia's life was recorded in different ancient sources but many are flawed or fabricated; the ''[[Historia Augusta]]'', a late-Roman collection of biographies, is the most notable (albeit unreliable) source for the era.{{sfn|Stoneman|2003|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=8kLFfE1qPhIC&pg=PA10 10]}} The author (or authors) of the ''Historia Augusta'' invented many events and letters attributed to Zenobia in the absence of contemporary sources.{{sfn|Stoneman|2003|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=8kLFfE1qPhIC&pg=PA10 10]}} Some ''Historia Augusta'' accounts are corroborated from other sources, and are more credible.{{sfn|Stoneman|2003|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=8kLFfE1qPhIC&pg=PA10 10]}} The Byzantine chronicler [[Joannes Zonaras]] is considered an important source for the life of Zenobia.{{sfn|Stoneman|2003|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=8kLFfE1qPhIC&pg=PA10 10]}}