:Marzēaḥ

In the abgads of the Northwest Semitic languages – Ugaritic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Punic, Palmyrene, Nabataean and Official Aramaic – the marzēaḥ is spelled mrzḥ.{{Cite book |last=Pentiuc |first=Eugen J. |author-link=Eugen J. Pentiuc |title=West Semitic Vocabulary in the Akkadian Texts from Emar |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2001 |pages=124}} The Ugaritic pronunciation is sometimes referred to as marziḥu,See for examples: {{Cite book |last=Na’aman |first=Nadav |author-link=Nadav Na'aman |title=Open-mindedness in the Bible and Beyond: A Volume of Studies in Honour of Bob Becking |publisher=Bloomsbury T&T Clark |year=2015 |editor-last=Korpel |editor-first=Majo C. A. |pages=216–219 |chapter=Four Notes on the Ancient Near Eastern Marzeaḥ |editor-last2=Grabbe |editor-first2=Lester L. |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/31076455}}; {{Cite journal |last=Mandell |first=Alice |date=2019 |title=When Form is Function: A Reassessment of the Marziḥu Contract (KTU 3.9) as a Scribal Exercise |url=https://www.academia.edu/44641978 |journal=Maarav |language= |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=39–67 |doi=10.1086/MAR201923104 |issn=0149-5712}} but the original pattern was *maqtal- (i.e. marzaḥu, as it was pronounced at Emar), and the form marziḥu reflected in some Akkadian transliterations may be a result of vowel harmony near a guttural.{{Cite book |last=Pentiuc |first=Eugen J. |author-link=Eugen J. Pentiuc |title=West Semitic Vocabulary in the Akkadian Texts from Emar |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2001 |pages=124–125}} Marzēaḥ (מַרְזֵחַ) is the Tiberian Hebrew pronunciation. The meaning of root of the word, RZḤ, is unclear.{{Cite book |last=Na’aman |first=Nadav |author-link=Nadav Na'aman |title=Open-mindedness in the Bible and Beyond: A Volume of Studies in Honour of Bob Becking |publisher=Bloomsbury T&T Clark |year=2015 |editor-last=Korpel |editor-first=Majo C. A. |pages=222 |chapter=Four Notes on the Ancient Near Eastern Marzeaḥ |editor-last2=Grabbe |editor-first2=Lester L. |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/31076455}}

Epigraphic evidence of the marzēaḥ were found in several Northwest Semitic cultures. The earliest known appearance of the marzēaḥ is at the ancient Syrian city Ebla, written mar-za-u₉, in a text that records a sheep brought to what seems to be a feast.{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Mark E. |author-link= |url=https://archive.org/details/TheCulticCalendarsOfTheAncientNearEast |title=The Cultic Calendars of the Ancient Near East |publisher=CDL |year=1993 |pages=34}}{{Cite book |last=Fleming |first=Daniel E. |author-link=Daniel E. Fleming |title=Time at Emar: The Cultic Calendar and the Rituals from the Diviner's Archive |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2000 |pages=165}}

One month in the calendar of Emar, known from Akkadian texts and unattested elsewhere, was named Marzaḥānu. The last offering of this month is "brought" by LÚ.MEŠ mar-za-ḫuFor a linguistic discussion of this phrase, see {{Cite book |last=Pentiuc |first=Eugen J. |author-link=Eugen J. Pentiuc |title=West Semitic Vocabulary in the Akkadian Texts from Emar |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2001 |pages=124}} (the men of the marzaḥu); the verb "brought" describing an offering is rare in Emar, and this is an indication for a procedure that is peculiar to the role of the marzaḥu. The data concerning the marzaḥu at Emar neither confirms nor discredits a connection with cult for the dead. The month Marzaḥānu was equivalent to month Abî, with its repeating contact with the netherworld, and this is an important consideration in favor of such connection.{{Cite book |last=Fleming |first=Daniel E. |author-link=Daniel E. Fleming |title=Time at Emar: The Cultic Calendar and the Rituals from the Diviner's Archive |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2000 |pages=165–167}}{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/the-context-of-scripture |title=The Context of Scripture |publisher=Brill |year=2003 |editor-last=Hallo |editor-first=William W. |volume=I |pages=438 |editor-last2=Younger |editor-first2=K. Lawson Jr.}} The existence of marzaḥu at Emar is probably an influence of regions western to Emar.{{Cite book |last=Fleming |first=Daniel E. |author-link=Daniel E. Fleming |title=The Installation of Baal's High Priestess at Emar |publisher=Scholars Press |year=1992 |pages=276}}

Among the Ugaritic poems, one textKTU² 1.114 deals with El sacrifices his hunting haul, and invites other deities to the feast while encouraging them to drink and become intoxicated. Meat, bread and wines are served. Yariḫ (moon) in the form of a dog,{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/748338794 |title=Stories from ancient Canaan |date=2012 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=978-0-664-23242-9 |editor-last=Coogan |editor-first=Michael David |edition=2nd |location=Louisville, KY |pages=168 |oclc=748338794 |editor-last2=Smith |editor-first2=Mark S.}} who was not originally invited, is welcomed by El who recognizes him, but another figure – whose name is not mentioned – is beaten by El who did not recognize him, and it appears that Anat and Astarte are aiding him and preparing weapons. El is then described "seating in his marzēaḥ" (yṯb b mrzḥh), and becomes drunk. A character named ḥby, who has horns and a tail, mocks El's uncontrolled excesses. The text is damaged from this point onward.{{Cite book |last1=רין |first1=צבי |title=עלילות האלים |last2=רין |first2=שפרה |publisher=ענבל |year=1990 |pages=646–654, 854 |language=he}}; for slightly different interpretations, see: {{Cite journal |last=del Olmo Lete |first=Gregorio |date=2015 |title=The Marzeaḥ and the Ugaritic Magic Ritual System: A Close Reading of KTU 1.114 |url=https://www.academia.edu/30505243 |journal=Aula Orientalis |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=221–241 |issn=0212-5730}}. On different views concerning the beginning of this text, see {{Cite journal |last=McLaughlin |first=John L. |date=1991 |title=The marzeaḥ at Ugarit: A Textual and Contextual Study |journal=Ugarit-Forschungen |volume=23 |pages=270–274}} El gets drunk in his grief in a textKTU² 1.1 IV, mainly lines 2–10 from Baʿal Cycle as well, but the tablet is very damaged and no new information about the marzēaḥ can be learned from it.{{Cite book |last1=רין |first1=צבי |title=עלילות האלים |last2=רין |first2=שפרה |publisher=ענבל |year=1990 |pages=178–179 |language=he}}

In the Tale of Aqhat, after Aqhat's death, a series of tablets called "Rapiuma Texts" are introduced.KTU² 1.21, 1.22 The Rapiuma (who are related to the underworld) are invited to a feast by ỉl mrzʿy (the master of the marzēaḥ ceremony, whose name means "the marzēaḥic god" or "the god of the marzēaḥ"), who is possibly Danel himself, to his house. After a week, the Rapiuma arrive to the threshing floors and orchards of Danel, and he offers them summer fruits. The Rapiuma and Danel sacrifice a lamb, and possibly other sacrifices. The mourning ceremony is held for Baʿal, probably to help him after a defeat in one of his wars. The Rapiuma were called for their ability to contact the dead and see the future, and Anat attends the ceremony as well, and holds the hands of Danel (although she murdered his son Aqhat). Aqhat is conjured by the Rapiuma, and they imply that Danel will not be abandoned again. The Rapiuma, now described as ġzrm (heroes in war), are asked to bless the name of El, and sacrifice cattles, sheeps, rams, calves and kids (yound goats). Then comes the sentence k ksp lʿbrm zt ḫrṣ lʿbrm k š, which was interpreted by {{Interlanguage link|Adolphe Horon|lt=A. Horon|he|עדיה חורון}} as "for silver is to the ʿbrm – olive, gold to the ʿbrm – indeed lamb" – ʿbrm are Rapiuma, who get the fruit of the land.{{Cite book |last=Horon |first=A. G. |title=East and West |publisher=Dvir |year=2000 |pages=157 |language=he}} The Rapiuma got drunk with Danel for seven days, and in the seventh day Baʿal probably arrives; the rest of the texts are damaged and illegible.{{Cite book |last1=רין |first1=צבי |title=עלילות האלים |last2=רין |first2=שפרה |publisher=ענבל |year=1990 |pages=629–645 |language=he}}; on different views regarding the funerary nature of these texts, see {{Cite journal |last=McLaughlin |first=John L. |date=1991 |title=The marzeaḥ at Ugarit: A Textual and Contextual Study |journal=Ugarit-Forschungen |volume=23 |pages=275–277}} The Rapiuma were summoned on real occasions as well, as indicated in the accession ritual of 'Ammurapi'KTU² 1.161 (that was compared to the Mesopotamian Kispu ritual{{Cite journal |last=Pitard |first=Wayne T. |date=1978 |title=The Ugaritic Funerary Text RS 34.126 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1356702 |journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research |issue=232 |pages=65–75 |doi=10.2307/1356702 |jstor=1356702 |issn=0003-097X}}) in which the Rapiuma were summoned and received sacrifices.{{cite book |last=Carter |first=Jane B. |url=https://archive.org/details/newlightondarkag00unse |title=New Light on a Dark Age |publisher=University of Missouri Press |year=1997 |isbn= 978-0-8262-1099-9|editor-last=Langdon |editor-first=Susan |page=77 |chapter=Thiasos and Marzeaḥ}}

Four Akkadian texts from Ugarit mention the marzēaḥ. One fragmental textRS 14.16 mentions the LÚ.MEŠ ma-ar-zi-ḫi (the men of the marzēaḥ) in financial context;{{Cite journal |last=McLaughlin |first=John L. |date=1991 |title=The marzeaḥ at Ugarit: A Textual and Contextual Study |journal=Ugarit-Forschungen |volume=23 |pages=265–266}} Na'aman sees it as a contract, and restores GAL before the LÚ, which creates the phrase rab amēlūti marziḥi – "the chief of the marzēaḥ", which corresponds with Ugaritic title rb.{{Cite book |last=Na’aman |first=Nadav |author-link=Nadav Na'aman |title=Open-mindedness in the Bible and Beyond: A Volume of Studies in Honour of Bob Becking |publisher=Bloomsbury T&T Clark |year=2015 |editor-last=Korpel |editor-first=Majo C. A. |pages=217–219 |chapter=Four Notes on the Ancient Near Eastern Marzeaḥ |editor-last2=Grabbe |editor-first2=Lester L. |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/31076455}} Another textRS 15.88 documents that king Niqmepaʿ son of Niqmaddu confirmed the ownership of the É LÚ.MEŠ mar-za-i ("the house of the marzēaḥ-men") to the marzēaḥ-men and their descendants as eternal. This text also says nothing about the actual nature of the marzēaḥ, but it can be learned that the marzēaḥ was legally recognized.{{Cite journal |last=McLaughlin |first=John L. |date=1991 |title=The marzeaḥ at Ugarit: A Textual and Contextual Study |journal=Ugarit-Forschungen |volume=23 |pages=266}}{{Cite book |last=Porten |first=Bezalel |url=https://archive.org/details/archivesfromelep0000port |title=Archives from Elephantine |publisher=University of California |year=1968 |pages=180}} A tabletRS 15.70 from the time of Ammittamru son of Niqmepaʿ records that an official took a É LÚ.MEŠ mar-ze-i ša ša-at-ra-na ("the house of the marzēaḥ-men of (the god) Šatrana") and gave the marzēaḥ-men another house instead. This tablet uses very similar phrases to the one of the time of Niqmepaʿ.{{Cite journal |last=McLaughlin |first=John L. |date=1991 |title=The marzeaḥ at Ugarit: A Textual and Contextual Study |journal=Ugarit-Forschungen |volume=23 |pages=267}} A fourth documentRS 18.01 bears the seal of Padiya king of Siyannu, and deals with a border dispute in a vineyard in Shuksi dedicated to Hurrian Ištar and divided between the marzēaḥ-men of Ari (a village) and the marzēaḥ-men of Siyannu. It can be learned that the marzēaḥ in this case was attached to geographical location. As in other texts, the marzēaḥ-men are able to possess property, in this case significant as providing wine.{{Cite journal |last=McLaughlin |first=John L. |date=1991 |title=The marzeaḥ at Ugarit: A Textual and Contextual Study |journal=Ugarit-Forschungen |volume=23 |pages=267–268}}

Evidence were also found in the alphabetic texts: One legal documentKTU² 3.9 records the "marzēaḥ that šmmn established in his house" – this affirms that a private citizen can establish his own marzēaḥ.{{Cite book |last1=רין |first1=צבי |title=עלילות האלים |last2=רין |first2=שפרה |publisher=ענבל |year=1990 |pages=854 |language=he}} The men of the marzēaḥ are called mt mrzḥ. It is unclear whether the document was the contract establishing the marzēaḥ with the obligations and rights of the people involved, or a legal suit.{{Cite journal |last=McLaughlin |first=John L. |date=1991 |title=The marzeaḥ at Ugarit: A Textual and Contextual Study |journal=Ugarit-Forschungen |volume=23 |pages=270–271}} One alphabetic textKTU² 4.399 is a list of fields and their owners, records bn mrzḥ – the exact meaning is not clear, but the text indicates again ownership of fields.{{Cite journal |last=McLaughlin |first=John L. |date=1991 |title=The marzeaḥ at Ugarit: A Textual and Contextual Study |journal=Ugarit-Forschungen |volume=23 |pages=268}} An extremely damaged tabletKTU² 4.642 mentions the word mrzḥ more than any other tablet. The level of damage allows minimal context; from the surviving words, it can be reconstructed that the marzēaḥ was mrzḥ ʿn[t] – the marzēaḥ of Anat, and the text was also related to wine producing, since šỉr šd kr[m] is mentioned.{{Cite journal |last=McLaughlin |first=John L. |date=1991 |title=The marzeaḥ at Ugarit: A Textual and Contextual Study |journal=Ugarit-Forschungen |volume=23 |pages=268–269}} All of the secular Ugaritic texts mentioning the marzēaḥ neither confirms nor discredits a connection with cult for the dead.{{Cite journal |last=McLaughlin |first=John L. |date=1991 |title=The marzeaḥ at Ugarit: A Textual and Contextual Study |journal=Ugarit-Forschungen |volume=23 |pages=275}}

The marzēaḥ is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.{{Cite journal |last=King |first=Philip J. |date=1989 |title=The "Marzēaḥ": Textual and Archaeological Evidence |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23621930 |journal=Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies |volume=20 |pages=99*–100* |jstor=23621930 |issn=0071-108X}} In the Book of Jeremiah 16:5–8:

For thus saith Yahweh, Enter not into the house of marzēaḥ, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith Yahweh, even lovingkindness and mercies. Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them: Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother. Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.

File:Furniture_Inlays,_9th-8th_Century_BC_(43218922881).jpg

And in Book of Amos 6:3–7:

Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David; That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the marzēaḥ of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

A legal document of a papyrus from Moab, whose authenticity is sometimes doubted, says: kh . ʾmrw . ʾlhn . lgrʾ . lk . hmrzḥ . whrḥyn . whbyt . wyšʿʾ . rḥq . mhm . wmlkʾ . hšlš – "So told the gods to grʾ: for you is the marzēaḥ and the millstone and the house, and yšʿʾ shall be removed from owning them, and the king is a third party". The inscription attests ownership of the marzēaḥ, and it is possible that the house is a marzēaḥ-house.{{Cite book |last=Aḥituv |first=Shmuel |title=HaKetav VeHamiḵtav |publisher=The Bialik Institute |year=2012 |edition=second |pages=400–404}}{{Cite journal |last=אחיטוב |first=שמואל |date=1999 |title=משפט אלוהים – פפירוס משפטי מן המאה הז' לפסה"נ |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23629874 |journal=ארץ-ישראל: מחקרים בידיעת הארץ ועתיקותיה |volume=26 |pages=1–4 |jstor=23629874 |issn=0071-108X}}

File:Stèle_dite_des_Sidoniens_avec_inscription_bilingue_-_300-200_av._J.-C._-_Le_Pirée_(Grèce)_-_Louvre_-_AO_4827_-_picture_04.jpg]]

A Phoenician inscription on a bronze phiale from the market, said to originate from Lebanon and dates to the 5th–3rd centuries BC, dedicates two cups to the marzēaḥ of šmš (the sun deity).{{Cite journal |last1=Avigad |first1=N. |last2=Greenfield |first2=J.C. |date=1982 |title=A Bronze "phialē" with a Phoenician Dedicatory Inscription |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27925834 |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |volume=32 |issue=2/3 |pages=118–128 |jstor=27925834 |issn=0021-2059}}{{Cite journal |last=King |first=Philip J. |date=1989 |title=The "Marzēaḥ": Textual and Archaeological Evidence |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23621930 |journal=Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies |volume=20 |pages=104* |jstor=23621930 |issn=0071-108X}} Among the Athenian Greek-Phoenician inscriptions, oneKAI 60 is dedicated to the donation made by a member of the community for a religious institution "in day 4 of the marzēaḥ in year 14 of the {{Abbr|people of|A kind of government in Phoenician cities in the Hellenistic period}} Sidon".{{Cite book |last=Slouschz |first=Nahoum |author-link=Nahum Slouschz |title=Thesaurus of Phoenician Inscriptions |publisher=Dvir |year=1942 |pages=116–117 |language=Hebrew}} In the Marseille Tariff, that regulates the prices of sacrifices in the temple of Baʿalṣapon, the "marzēaḥ of the gods" is mentioned, and it may be a holyday similar to the Adonia, or a memorial day for the death or resurrection of the gods.{{Cite book |last=Slouschz |first=Nahoum |author-link=Nahum Slouschz |title=Thesaurus of Phoenician Inscriptions |publisher=Dvir |year=1942 |pages=148–149 |language=Hebrew}}{{Cite book |last1=רין |first1=צבי |title=עלילות האלים |last2=רין |first2=שפרה |publisher=ענבל |year=1990 |pages=856 |language=he}} A Phoenician ostrakon from Idalion was inscribed tn lʿštrt wlmlqrt bmrzḥ ʾkl sp/r 1 – "Give Astarte and Melqart in the marzēaḥ food: one sp or sr". It seems that the authorities provided the food for the ceremony, but the role of the gods is unclear, as well as whether the marzēaḥ was held in Idalion or Kition, which was the capital city and the cult of Astarte and Melqart in it is well known.{{Cite journal |last1=Amadasi Guzzo |first1=Maria Giulia |author-link1=Maria Giulia Amadasi Guzzo |last2=José Ángel |first2=Zamora López |author-link2=José Ángel Zamora López |date=2020 |title=Pratiques administratives phéniciennes à Idalion |url=https://journals.openedition.org/cchyp/501 |journal=Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes |volume=50 |at=chapter 21}}

Jane B. Carter compared the syssitia, which sometimes included ancestors tales poems, to the marzēaḥ. Carter believes that the Phoenicians in Crete held marzēaḥs, and their ceremonies influenced the Hellenic syssitia. She bases her proposal on the focus on ancestor spirits in some Ugaritic texts, and the singing of ancestors tales in the syssitia; the resemblance between Phoenician ivory furniture plaques (which, according to Amos, may have functioned in the marzēaḥ) and the iconography in Cretan building which was used for feasts; the mentioning of the syssitia in both Laconian and Carthaginian constitutions in Aristotle's translation (who refers to the Cretan constitution as similar to the two others), suggesting the original Phoenician term in the Carthaginian constitution was marzēaḥ.{{cite book |last=Carter |first=Jane B. |url=https://archive.org/details/newlightondarkag00unse |title=New Light on a Dark Age |publisher=University of Missouri Press |year=1997 |isbn= 978-0-8262-1099-9|editor-last=Langdon |editor-first=Susan |pages=72–97 |chapter=Thiasos and Marzeaḥ}}

In an Aramaic ostrakon from Elephantine papyri and ostraka, the head of the gravers association asks the addressee to pay his share in the marzēaḥ.{{Cite book |last=Porten |first=Bezalel |url=https://archive.org/details/archivesfromelep0000port |title=Archives from Elephantine |publisher=University of California |year=1968 |pages=179}}

The marzēaḥ is mentioned in Nabataean inscriptions in different contexts. The completion of a large agricultural project in Avdat in the time of Rabbel II Soter was celebrated in mrzḥ ʾlhʾ – a banquet holiday for Dushara.{{Cite book |last=נגב |first=אברהם |author-link=Avraham Negev |url=https://benyehuda.org/read/16164#ch641 |title=ערי הנבטים בנגב |publisher=אריאל |chapter=עבדת, תת הפרק "תולדות היישוב"}} In other inscriptions the marzēaḥ is mentioned in the context of mourning, burial and donations to the financing of the marzēaḥ, and the names of the priests and the worshiped god are sometimes recorded; for example: dkyrw ʿbydw bn [...] wḥbrwh mrzḥ ʿbdt ʾlhʾ – "Remembered are ʿbydw son of [...] and his friends. marzēaḥ of the gods of Avdat."{{Cite book |last=Aḥituv |first=Shmuel |title=HaKetav VeHamiḵtav |publisher=The Bialik Institute |year=2012 |edition=second |pages=403}} The conductor of the marzēaḥ, rb mrzḥʾ, is also attested, and is similar to ỉl mrzʿy from Ugarit. The Nabataean marzēaḥ was influenced by the Greek Symposium.

The majority of the epigraphic evidence for the marzēaḥ comes from the 1st–3rd centuries AD at Palmyra.{{Cite book |last=Porten |first=Bezalel |url=https://archive.org/details/archivesfromelep0000port |title=Archives from Elephantine |publisher=University of California |year=1968 |pages=182}} An inscription dates to Shebat 29 AD mentions nine [bny] mrzḥʾ (literally "[the sons of] the marzēaḥ", meaning "the members of the marzēaḥ"), interpreted as a religious association or status; there were nine of them, and the inscription commemorates the building of an altar for Aglibol and Malakbel.{{cite book |author=Cooke |first=George Albert |author-link=George Albert Cooke |url=https://archive.org/details/atextbooknorths00cookgoog |title=A Text-Book of North-Semitic Inscriptions |publisher=The Clarendon Press |year=1903 |isbn= |pages=302–303}} Another inscription, dates to Nisan 118 AD, engraved on a statue of Zebida by his daughter and another man for his "leadership of the marzēaḥ of the priests of Bel" (rbnwt mrzḥwth dy kmry bl). A bilingual inscription from Nisan 203 AD translates the Palmyrene leadership of the marzēaḥ (rbnwt mrzḥwt or rbnwt mrzḥwtʾ) to Greek as συ[μποσια]ρχος (sy[mposia]rch). A fourth inscription from Tishri 243 AD for a leader of the marzēaḥ who "served the gods and presided over the divination for a whole year and provided the priests with old wine for a whole year" ends with blessings for his sons, the scribe, the person in charge of the cooking, the cupbearer (mmzgʾ) and other assistants. About six tesserae are depicted on one side a priest on a couch under a vine, and on the other side inscribed with a title "head (rb) of the marzēaḥ"; one of them shows nude Apollo and mentions the members of the marzēaḥ of Nabu (bny mrzḥ nbw).{{Cite book |last=Porten |first=Bezalel |url=https://archive.org/details/archivesfromelep0000port |title=Archives from Elephantine |publisher=University of California |year=1968 |pages=183}} As the Nabataean marzēaḥ, the Palmyrene marzēaḥ was influenced by the Greek Symposium.

File:Madabakarte_Detail_Kultvereinshaus.jpg

The Talmud discusses the marzēaḥ as a living institution. The latest reference to the marzēaḥ is the Madaba Map from the 6th century AD: the settlement ΒΗΤΟΜΑΡΣΕΑ Η ΚΑΙ ΜΑΙΟΥΜΑΣ (Bētomarsea {{Abbr|ē kai|which is also}} Maioumas) shown in the map near the Dead Sea is identified as "House of Marzēaḥ". Some link this place to Baʿal-Peʿor mentioned in the bible, who is the god of death.{{Cite book |last1=רין |first1=צבי |title=עלילות האלים |last2=רין |first2=שפרה |publisher=ענבל |year=1990 |pages=855 |language=he}}{{Cite journal |last=King |first=Philip J. |date=1989 |title=The "Marzēaḥ": Textual and Archaeological Evidence |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23621930 |journal=Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies |volume=20 |pages=101* |jstor=23621930 |issn=0071-108X}}

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