[79]. Cf. Rev. archéol., 1888, I, pp. 184 ff.; Pauly-Wissowa, s. v. "Aeternus," and Festschrift für Otto Benndorf, 1898, p. 291.—The idea of the eternity of the gods also appeared very early in Egypt, but it does not seem that the mysteries of Isis—in which the death of Osiris was commemorated—made it prominent, and it certainly was spread in the Occident only by the sidereal cults.
[80]. The question has been raised whether the epithet
מרא עלמא
means "lord of the world" or "lord of eternity" (cf. Lidzbarski, Ephemeris, I, 258; II, 297; Lagrange, p. 508), but in our opinion the controversy is to no purpose, since in the spirit of the Syrian priests the two ideas are inseparable and one expression in itself embraces both, the world being conceived as eternal (supra, n. [76]). See for Egypt, Horapoll., Hieroglyph., I (serpent as symbol of the αἰών and κόσμος). At Palmyra, too, the title "lord of all" is found,
מרא כל
(Lidzbarski, loc. cit.); cf. Julian, Or., IV, p. 203, 5 (Hertlein): Ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν ὅλων Ἥλιος, and infra, n. [81]; n. [87]. Already at Babylon the title "lord of the universe" was given to Shamash and Hadad; see Jastrow, Religion Babyloniens, I, p. 254, n. 10. Nöldeke has been good enough to write me as follows on this subject: "Daran kan kein Zweifel sein, dass
עלם
zunächst (lange Zeit) Ewigkeit heisst, und dass die Bedeutung 'Welt' secundär ist. Ich halte es daher für so gut wie gewiss dass das palmyrenische
מרא עלמא
, wenn es ein alter Name ist, den 'ewigen' Herrn bedeutet, wie ohne Zweifel