Editing Elagabalus (deity)

{{Short description|Near Eastern sun god}}
{{For|the Roman emperor with the same name|Elagabalus}}

'''Elagabalus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|ɛ|l|ə|ˈ|ɡ|æ|b|ə|l|ə|s}}), '''Aelagabalus''', '''Heliogabalus,''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|h|iː|l|i|ə|ˈ|ɡ|æ|b|ə|l|ə|s}}) or simply '''Elagabal''' ([[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]]: 𐡀𐡋𐡄𐡀𐡂𐡁𐡋 ''ʾĕlāhaʾgabāl''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lipiński |first=Edward |date=2011 |title=Elaha Gabal d'Émèse dans son contexte historique |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41547069 |journal=Latomus |volume=70 |issue=4 |pages=1081–1101 |jstor=41547069 |issn=0023-8856}}</ref>) was an [[Ancient Semitic religion|Arab]]-[[Roman mythology|Roman]] [[sun god]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Shahid|first=Irfan|title=Rome and the Arabs|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks|year=1984|isbn=0-88402-115-7|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=36|quote="Just as the pagan Arab cult of the sun-god of Emesa is a relevant feature of background for the interest of the Severi in religion and in the case of Elagabalus for the installation of the Arab sun-god in Rome itself"}}</ref> initially venerated in [[Emesa]] (modern-day [[Homs]]), [[Syria]]. Although there were many variations of the name, the god was consistently referred to as ''Elagabalus'' in Roman coins and inscriptions from AD 218 on, during the reign of Emperor [[Elagabalus]].<ref>Martijn Icks, ''The Crimes of Elagabalus: The Life and Legacy of Rome's Decadent Boy Emperor'' (2011) p. 48</ref>

==Cult==
[[Image:Bronze-Uranius Antoninus-Elagabal stone-SGI 4414.jpg|thumb|300px|The temple at [[Homs|Emesa]], containing the holy stone (''[[baetyl]]''), on the reverse of this [[Roman provincial currency|provincial bronze coin]] by [[Roman usurper]] [[Uranius]] (253–254 AD)]]

Elagabalus was initially venerated at Emesa in [[Syria]], where the Arab [[Emesan dynasty]] acted as its priests. The name is the [[Latinisation of names|Latinised]] form of the Arabic "''Ilah al-Jabal''" ("إله الجبل"), the Emesene manifestation of the deity, which is Arabic for "God of the Mountain."<ref name="Ball p.37">{{cite book|title=Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire|last1=Ball|first1=Warwick|author-link=Warwick Ball|publisher=Routledge|date=2016|isbn=9780415717779|page=37}}</ref><ref>''The Journal of Juristic Papyrology'', volume 23, page 116: "und mit palmyrenischer Inschrift "Gott Berg" steht die umstrittene Etymologie des Namens "Elagabal" (ilah ha-gabal) fest"</ref><ref>English-Arabic dictionary translation for "God" with transliteration of the Arabic equivalent: "ilah": https://en.bab.la/dictionary/english-arabic/god</ref><ref>English-Arabic dictionary translation for "mountain" with transliteration of the Arabic equivalent: "gabal": https://en.bab.la/dictionary/english-arabic/mountain</ref> Elagabalus was the religious "lord", or [[Ba'al]], of Emesa.<ref name="Ball p.37"/> The deity successfully preserved Arab characteristics, both in his names and representations.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bowman, Cameron, Garnsey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MNSyT_PuYVMC&q=characteristics+both+in+his+names&pg=PA502|title=The Cambridge Ancient History: Volume 12, The Crisis of Empire, AD 193-337|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2008|isbn=9780521850735|pages=502}}</ref>

The cult of the deity spread to other parts of the [[Roman Empire]] in the second century, where he would be revered as '''Elagabalos''' (Ἐλαγάβαλος ''Elagábalos'') by the Greeks and '''Elagabalus''' by the Romans. For example, a dedication has been found as far away as [[Woerden]], in the modern-day [[Netherlands]].<ref>[http://rambambashi.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/an-early-dedication-to-elagabal/ An Early Dedication to Elagabal], [https://web.archive.org/web/20210126201406/https://rambambashi.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/an-early-dedication-to-elagabal/ archived] on 2021-01-26; the inscription is in now in Woerden's city museum.</ref>

==In Rome==
The cult stone or [[baetyl]] was taken to Rome by the [[Roman emperor|Emperor]] [[Elagabalus]], who, before his accession, was the hereditary high priest at Emesa and was commonly called Elagabalus after the deity.<ref>{{ cite book | last = Halsberghe | first = Gaston H. | title = The Cult of Sol Invictus | year = 1972 | location = Leiden | publisher = Brill | pages = 62 }}</ref> The Syrian deity was assimilated with the Roman sun god known as [[Sol (Roman mythology)|Sol]] and became known as [[Sol Invictus]] ("the unconquered Sun") among the Romans.<ref>{{cite web | author = Devlaminck, Pieter | title = De Cultus van Sol Invictus: Een vergelijkende studie tussen keizer Elagabalus (218–222) en keizer Aurelianus (270–275) | publisher = University of Ghent | year=  2004 | language = nl | url = http://www.ethesis.net/invictus/invictus_inhoud.htm | access-date = 2007-08-07}}</ref>

A temple called the [[Elagabalium]] was built on the east face of the [[Palatine Hill]] to house the holy stone of the Emesa temple, a [[Baetylus|black conical meteorite]].<ref name="herodian-history-v-5">Herodian, ''Roman History'' [https://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodian/hre505.html V.5] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104155215/http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodian/hre505.html |date=2015-11-04 }}</ref> [[Herodian]] writes of that stone:

{{Blockquote|This stone is worshipped as though it were sent from heaven; on it there are some small projecting pieces and markings that are pointed out, which the people would like to believe are a rough picture of the sun, because this is how they see them.<ref name="herodian-history-v-3">Herodian, ''Roman History'' [https://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodian/hre503.html V.3]</ref>}}

[[Image:Elagabalus Aureus Sol Invictus.png|thumb|right|Roman [[aureus]] showing [[Elagabalus]] (struck 218–219 AD, [[Antioch]] mint). The reverse reads ''Sanct Deo Soli Elagabal'' (''To the Holy Sun God Elagabal''), and depicts a [[quadriga|four-horse]], gold chariot carrying the holy stone of the Emesa temple.]]
Herodian also related that Elagabalus forced senators to watch while he danced around his deity's altar to the sound of drums and cymbals,<ref name="herodian-history-v-5"/> and at each [[solstice|summer solstice]] celebrated a great festival, popular with the masses because of food distributions,<ref name="herodian-history-v-6"/> during which he placed the holy stone on a [[chariot]] adorned with gold and jewels, which he paraded through the city:

{{Blockquote|A six horse chariot carried the divinity, the horses huge and flawlessly white, with expensive gold fittings and rich ornaments. No one held the reins, and no one rode in the chariot; the vehicle was escorted as if the god himself were the charioteer. Elagabalus ran backward in front of the chariot, facing the god and holding the horses' reins. He made the whole journey in this reverse fashion, looking up into the face of his god.<ref name="herodian-history-v-6"/>}}

Herodian's description strongly suggests that the Emesene cult was inspired by the [[Babylonia]]n [[Akitu|Akitu-festival]].<ref>M. Geller, "The Last Wedge", in ''Zeitschrift für Assyriologie''  87 (1997), pp. 43–95.</ref>

According to [[Cassius Dio]], the Emperor also tried to bring about a union of Roman and Syrian religion under the supremacy of his deity, which he placed even above [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]],<ref name="dio-history-lxxx-11">Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/80*.html#79-11 LXXX.11]</ref> and to which he assigned either [[Astarte]], [[Minerva]] or [[Urania]], or some combination of the three, as wife.<ref name="herodian-history-v-6">Herodian, ''Roman History'' [https://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodian/hre506.html V.6] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104155215/http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodian/hre506.html |date=2015-11-04 }}.</ref> The most sacred relics from the Roman religion were transferred from their respective shrines to the Elagabalium, including "the emblem of [[Cybele|the Great Mother]], the fire of [[Vesta (mythology)|Vesta]], the [[Palladium (mythology)|Palladium]], the [[Ancile|shields]] of the [[Salii]], and all that the Romans held sacred". He reportedly also declared that [[Judaism|Jews]], [[Samaritans]] and [[Christianity|Christians]] must transfer their rites to his temple so that it "might include the mysteries of every form of worship".<ref>''Augustan History'', Life of Elagabalus [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Elagabalus/1*.html#3.4 3]</ref>

According to Herodian, after the emperor was killed in 222, his religious edicts were reversed and the cult of Elagabalus returned to Emesa.<ref name="herodian-history-vi-1">Herodian, ''Roman History'' [https://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodian/hre601.html VI.6] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820005527/https://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodian/hre601.html |date=2007-08-20 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Black Stone]]
* [[Homs]]
* [[Hubal]]
* [[Royal family of Emesa]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* M. Pietrzykowsky, "Die Religionspolitik des Kaisers Elagabal", in: ''[[Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt]]'' II 16.3 (1986) 806–1825

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Elagabalus Sol Invictus}}
*[https://www.livius.org/articles/religion/elagabal/ Livius.org: Elagabal]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Elagabalus (Deity)}}
[[Category:Ancient Syria]]
[[Category:Arabian gods]]
[[Category:Elagabalus]]
[[Category:Religion in Syria]]
[[Category:Roman gods]]
[[Category:Solar gods]]
[[Category:Sol Invictus]]