The camel-riding god from al-sbeikha

Abstract EN

In 1993 Khaled As´ad, Director of the Museum and Antiquities in Palmyra, together with and under the guidance of Mr.

Abdul Razaq Abdul Azeez from al-Sbeikha, made some archaeological discoveries in al-Sbeikha, a village on the northern road of the Palmyrene caravane route towards Resafa and the Eufrates, 120 km north of Palmyra, and 40 km south-east of Resafa.

In al-Sbeikha, near a spring was discovered a hard limestone bas-relief (35 x 37 x 10 cm).

The stone was a little damaged by salty water, but otherwise being in a good condition.

The motif of the relief - a camel-riding god – points clearly to the relief as belonging to the Palmyrene religious iconography (fig.

1).

To this may be added that in al-Sbeikha was found a Palmyrene tessera, showing on its averse a thunderbolt and the name of Bel, written in the Palmyrene language, while the reverse shows the bust of the god Bel.

The bas-relief is now in the Palmyra Museum, where it is registered under no.

9152/2720 B, and so is the tessera, registered under no.

130.

Both pieces are now exposed in the West Gallery in the Palmyra Museum*.