Endnote 15 – Pieces of the Puzzle

Otherwise we might suppose that the offerings are to one god whose name was something like ‘Ashtarom (?), especially since “the ‘Ashtars” has the form of a Phoenician (not Aramaic) plural even in the Aramaic dedications. The retention of the final –m as the plural marker in the Aramaic texts, where we expect final –n, is surprising. We can only suppose that the ‘Ashtars were always referred to as a group, so that their name became a collective noun, the form of which was retained as traditional even when the local Phoenician dialect was replaced in the region by Aramaic. Still, it is surprising.