Bene Komare

The tribe was known as the Komare (Chomarenoi in Ancient Greek) and were only once mentioned with the Greek name Choneitai; both names mean priests.{{sfn|Gawlikowski|2003|p=9}} Komare is the plural of Kumra, which means priest in Aramaic, while Choneitai is the Greek plural of the Canaanite Kohen, which means priest.{{sfn|Gawlikowski|2003|p=9}}

The Canaanite name occurred earlier than the Aramaic one,{{sfn|Veyne|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=AAeLDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA35 35]}} indicating that they were of Canaanite origin who became established in Palmyra before 32 BC.{{sfn|Teixidor|1977|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=m5Z9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA121 121]}} They were first mentioned in an inscription from Dura-Europos,{{sfn|Gawlikowski|2003|p=10}} when in 33 BC, Maliku son of Ramu from the Komare in association with a member of the Gaddibol tribe built a temple for Bel and Yarhibol in that city,{{sfn|Teixidor|1979|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=TccUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA27 27]}} which contained a Palmyrene trade colony.{{sfn|Edwell|2008|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=DQgmOZlsEWcC&pg=PA36 36]}} The Komare were one of the main four tribes in Palmyra which constituted the nucleus of the city's society.{{sfn|Teixidor|1977|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=m5Z9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA107 107]}} An inscription from November 21 AD mention that a certain Hashash son of Nesa from the Komare had a statue erected for him by his tribe and the tribe of Bene-Mattabol for his efforts in reconciling the two tribes who apparently got involved in a conflict.{{sfn|Teixidor|1977|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=m5Z9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA107 107]}}

The tribe was devoted to the cult of the gods Aglibol and Malakbel,{{sfn|Teixidor|1979|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=TccUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA35 35]}} and were connected with those deities temple known as the Holy Garden.{{sfn|Teixidor|1977|p= 120}}{{sfn|Gawlikowski|2003|p=10}} The Komare were involved in the Palmyrene caravan trade and its merchants were attested in Babylon.{{sfn|Dirven|1999|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_LfXg2r6FT0C&pg=PA32 32]}}

{{Reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|first=Lucinda |last=Dirven|title=The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos: A Study of Religious Interaction in Roman Syria|series=Religions in the Graeco-Roman World|volume= 138|year=1999|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-11589-7|issn=0927-7633}}
• {{cite book|first= Peter|last=Edwell|title=Between Rome and Persia: The Middle Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Palmyra Under Roman Control|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-09573-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Gawlikowski|first=Michał|editor1-last= Freyberger|editor1-first= Klaus Stefan|editor2-first=Agnes|editor2-last=Henning|editor3-first=Henner|editor3-last=von Hesberg|title=Kulturkonflikte im Vorderen Orient an der Wende vom Hellenismus zur Römischen Kaiserzeit|chapter=Palmyra: From a Tribal Federation to a City|year=2003|publisher=Verlag Marie Leidorf|series=Orient-Archäologie|volume=11|issn= 1434-162X|isbn=978-3-896-46641-9}}
• {{cite book|first=Javier|last=Teixidor|title=The Pagan God: Popular Religion in the Greco-Roman Near East|year=1977|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-400-87139-1}}
• {{cite book|title=The Pantheon of Palmyra|first=Javier|last= Teixidor|publisher=Brill|year= 1979|series=Études préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'Empire romain|volume=79|isbn= 978-90-04-05987-0}}
• {{cite book|first= Paul|last=Veyne|title=Palmyra: An Irreplaceable Treasure|translator-first=Teresa Lavender|translator-last=Fagan|year=2017|orig-year=2015|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-45293-7}}

{{refend}}

{{Palmyra}}

Category:Palmyra

Category:Palmyrene Empire