religion 195
Furthermore, there are references to the cult of the god Baʿalšamayin
in Damascus. While excavating near the house of ananias in the christian
quarter of the city, an altar with a greek inscription was found that names
the god of the heavens. this is a greek translation of the divine name
Baʿalšamayin. Because of the altar’s discovery it was speculated that this
was the location of a temple for the god Baʿalšamayin. the assumption of
a temple where the god of the heavens was worshipped found additional
support when another altar, this one with the relief of a bull, was found at
this location. nothing is known about the cult’s followers.341
the inscription mentioning the god of the heavens is dated to the 2nd
or 3rd century B.c. Beyond the find spot near the house of ananias it was
supposed that the altar with the greek inscription might have originated
from the area of the great temple of Jupiter Damascenus, which was dis-
mantled for its stones during christian times. no further hypotheses can
be built upon these considerations, due to a lack of reliable evidence.342
other deities worshipped in Damascus were adonis343 and the river-
god Barada.344
there are several other small towns in the Damascus region345 that give
insight into the cults of this region.
a cylinder inscription of the assyrian king shalmaneser V (726–722
B.c.) mentions booty from King hazael of Damascus’s royal city of Malaḥa.
the loot came from the temple of the moon-god Šēru, who is otherwise
known as the aramaean moon-god Śahr.346
the local pantheon of the southern Damascus region is illuminated by
inscription i from tell Deir ʿalla, dating to the 8th century B.c.347 During
that time the region belonged to the kingdom of aram.348 the use of the
aramaic script makes clear that a scribe trained in the transjordanian
region wrote it.349 this text mentions the deities el, Šamaš (“solar deity”),
Šagar (“lunar deity”), and aštar (“morning star”) by name, although their
roles are not quite clear because of the fragmented textual evidence.
341 cf. niehr 2003: 101f.
342 cf. niehr 2003: 102.
343 cf. haider 1996: 193.
344 cf. haider 1996: 193 with fig. 76.
345 cf. niehr 2010a: 314–316.
346 cf. grayson 1996: 151 n. 92; Dion 1997: 179; lipiński 2000a: 350f, although Malaḥa
is, contrary to lipiński, not to be identified with the city hazor.
347 cf. the publication of the inscription in hoftijzer – van der Kooij 1976: 31–308; also
Müller 1982; Weippert 1991; Blum 2008.
348 cf. Dion 1997: 199f and niehr 2011: 344f.
349 cf. van der Kooij – ibrahim 1989: 65–67.