Zenobia
Septimia Zenobia (Palmyrene Aramaic: 𐡡𐡶𐡦𐡡𐡩, BTZBY, vocalized as Bat-Zabbai; c. 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the city, Odaenathus. Her husband became king in 260, elevating Palmyra to supreme power in the Near East by defeating the Sasanian Empire and stabilizing the Roman East. After Odaenathus' assassination, Zenobia became the regent of her son Vaballathusand held de facto power throughout his reign.
In 270, Zenobia launched an invasion that brought most of the Roman East under her sway and culminated with the annexation of Egypt. By mid-271 her realm extended from Ancyra, central Anatolia, to Upper Egypt, although she remained nominally subordinate to Rome. However, in reaction to the campaign of the Roman emperor Aurelian in 272, Zenobia declared her son emperor and assumed the title of empress (declaring Palmyra's secession from Rome). The Romans were victorious after heavy fighting; the queen was besieged in her capital and captured by Aurelian, who exiled her to Rome, where she spent the remainder of her life.
Zenobia was a cultured monarch and fostered an intellectual environment in her court, which was open to scholars and philosophers. She was tolerant toward her subjects and protected religious minorities. The queen maintained a stable administration which governed a multicultural multiethnic empire. Zenobia died after 274, and many tales have been recorded about her fate. Her rise and fall have inspired historians, artists and novelists, and she is a patriotic symbol in Syria.
Zenobia was born c. 240–241,[1] and bore the gentilicium (surname) Septimia.[note 1][4] Her native Palmyrene name was Bat-Zabbai (written "Btzby" in the Palmyrene alphabet),[5] an Aramaic name meaning "daughter of Zabbai".[6] Such compound names for women were common in Palmyra, where the element "bt" means daughter, but the personal name that follows does not necessarily denotes the immediate father, rather referring to the ancestor of the family.[7] In Greek—Palmyra's diplomatic and second language, used in many Palmyrene inscriptions—she used the name Zenobia.[8] In Palmyra, when written in Greek, names such as Zabeida, Zabdila, Zabbai or Zabda were often transformed into "Zenobios" (masculine) and "Zenobia" (feminine).[9] The element "Zabbai" from Zenobia's native name means "gift of N.N. [god]",[note 2][12] and the name Zenobia translates to "one whose life derives from Zeus".[8] The historian Victor Duruy believed that the queen used the Greek name as a translation of her native name, in deference to her Greek subjects.[13] The philologist Wilhelm Dittenberger argued that the name Bat-Zabbai underwent a detortum (twist), thus resulting in the name Zenobia.[14]
The ninth-century historian al-Tabari, in his highly fictionalized account,[15] wrote that the queen's name was Na'ila al-Zabba'.[16] Manichaean sources, reporting the visit of the apostle Addai to the region during the time of Odaenathus, called Zenobia "Queen Tadi", wife of kysr (caesar).[note 3] The name given to Zenobia in those Manichaean writings seems to derive from Tadmor, Palmyra's native name, and this is supported by the Coptic Acts Codex, where Zenobia is named Queen Thadmor.[18]
