Jews and Others
on the steps dates to../.^47 There is no other evidence identifying the
structure as a temple.
. The ‘‘Temple of Atargatis’’ (H). From about the same moment we have
inscriptions from the area which lies next to the ‘‘temple of Artemis,’’ and
which was taken by Cumont to be part of it,^48 but which was subsequently
identified as a separate temple.^49 The earliest inscription from the site dates
to../^50 and records the erection of something unspecified, with no
divine name given. Three years later, the same man, Ammonios, dedicated
phalloi,^51 and two years later again a group of persons dedicated atopos(place),
not further defined, to ‘‘the goddess’’ (thea).^52 The name ‘‘Atargatis,’’ by which
the temple is now identified, is in fact attested first by an inscription from
this site which is dated to../, and which records the erection of anoikos
(house), with atamieion(treasury) inside it, for the ‘‘good order [eukosmia]
of the Atargateian temple’’ [sic].^53 There are also inscriptions of the Roman
period from the site referring to Atargatis.^54 Taken together, the evidence,
especially that mentioning the temple (hieron) of the goddess, makes the iden-
tification secure. None the less, it should be noted that from the same temple
there is a dedication to the unknown godtheos Sasados,^55 and another, from
the Roman period, totheos Saddoudan,^56 as well as a Greek-Palmyrene bilin-
gual inscription dedicated totheos Helios/ ‘‘Shamash the god’’ (ŠMŠ ’LH’).^57
It can thus be taken as certain that dedications to more than one deity could
be erected in the same temple or cult centre. The relevance of this fact to the
identification of temples on the basis of inscriptions is obvious.
. The Temple of Aphlad (N). In the south-west corner of the city, in
an irregular set of rooms clustering around a courtyard, there was found an
inscribed slab from the Seleucid year ,../, recording that the mem-
bersofahetaireiahad erected anandrōn(chamber?) to ‘‘Apalados the god’’ for
the safety of thestratēgosSeleukos.^58 By good fortune, the name of one of
.ReportV, , no. .
. Cumont (n. ), .
.ReportIII, ff.
. Cumont (n. ), , no. .
. Frye et al. (n. ), , no. .
. Fryeetal.(n.),,no..
.ReportIII, , no. SEGVII, no. .
.ReportIII, ff., nos. – SEGVII, nos. –.
.ReportIII,,no.SEGVII, no. .
.ReportIII, , no. SEGVII, no. .
. Frye et al. (n. ), , no. PAT, no. .
.ReportV, , no. .