Elagabalus, Aelagabalus, Heliogabalus, or simply Elagabal is a Syro-Roman sun god. Although there were many variations of the name, the god was consistently referred to as Elagabalus in Roman coins and inscriptions from AD 218 on, during the reign of emperor Elagabalus.
Cult
Elagabalus was initially venerated at Emesa in Syria, where the Arab Emesan Dynasty acted as its priests. The name is the Latinised form of the Arabic "Ilah Al-Gabal", the Emesene manifestation of the deity, which is Arabic for "God of the Mountain.". The cult of the deity spread to other parts of the Roman Empire in the second century, where he would be revered as Elagabalos by the Greeks and Elagabalus by the Romans. For example, a dedication has been found as far away as Woerden, in the modern-day Netherlands.
In Rome
The cult statue was brought to Rome by the EmperorMarcus Aurelius Antoninus, who, before his accession, was the hereditary high priest at Emesa and was commonly called Elagabalus after the deity. The Syrian deity was assimilated with the Roman sun god known as Sol and later Sol Invictus. A temple called the Elagabalium was built on the east face of the Palatine Hill to house the holy stone of the Emesa temple, a black conical meteorite. Herodian writes of that stone: depicting Elagabalus. The reverse reads Sanct Deo Soli Elagabal, and depicts a four-horse, gold chariot carrying the holy stone of the Emesa temple. Herodian also relates that Elagabalus forced senators to watch while he danced around his deity's altar to the sound of drums and cymbals, and at each summer solstice celebrated a great festival, popular with the masses because of food distributions, during which he placed the holy stone on a chariot adorned with gold and jewels, which he paraded through the city: Herodian's description strongly suggests that the Emesene cult was inspired by the Babylonian Akitu-festival. The Emperor also tried to bring about a union of Roman and Syrian religion under the supremacy of his deity, which he placed even above Jupiter, and to which he assigned either Astarte, Minerva or Urania, or some combination of the three, as wife. The most sacred relics from the Roman religion were transferred from their respective shrines to the Elagabalium, including "the emblem of the Great Mother, the fire of Vesta, the Palladium, the shields of the Salii, and all that the Romans held sacred". He reportedly also declared that Jews, Samaritans and Christians must transfer their rites to his temple so that it "might include the mysteries of every form of worship". After the emperor was killed in 222, his religious edicts were reversed and the cult of Elagabalus returned to Emesa.
