Diadem (Hastings' Dictionary)

This term (SiiSjjiw.) was applied by the Greeks to the emblem of royalty wora on the head by Pers. monarchs (Xen. Cyr. viii. 3. 13). It consisted of a silken fillet, 2 inches broad, of blue or purple, mixed with white, tied at the back of the head. Originally intended to confine the hair, and worn by all Persians, it became an ornamental head-dress, the king's being distinguished by its colour, and perhaps by jewels studding it. It was tied round the lower part of the khshatram (Heb. ins, Gr.

KiSapis or (ciropij ; see Rawlinson, Anc. Mon. iii. 204 note), a tall, stifl" cap, probably of felt, and of bright colours, which formed the tiara or turban of the king (Q. Curt. iii. 3. 18, 19 ; see head from Persepolis in Rawlinson, iii. 166). The head-dress of soldiers other than the king was soft, and fell back on the head (Suidas, Lexicon, ndpa. See also the Pompeian mosaic of the battle of Issus, given in Ain6, Berculaneum and Pompeii).

Later, the fillet was enlarged by broad pendants falling on the shoulders. The Persian diadem was adopted by Alexander and his successors (1 Mac 1' ; Herodian, i. 3. 7). To the Greeks and Romans it was the distinctive badge of royalty, unlike the WTeath, and is commonly described as white (Tac. Annales, vi. 37). Its presentation to Julius CiEsar was therefore specially oUensive (Cic. Phil. ii. 34 ; Sueton. Jul. 79). Pliny [Nil vii.

57) attributes its invention to Father Liber (the supposed Latin Dionysus), and it was long confined in art to him ; but later artists placed it on the head of other deities. Diocletian was the first Rom. emperor to wear it permanently and publicly. Out of it. in combination with the ' corona,' the later royal crowns were developed. In LXX SiiSriiw.

is used loosely to translate not only 'crown royal' (no^a ins Est I" 2") but ' psllium ' (XXf^ Est 8" SiiSriiui ^vaaivov iropipvpovv) and 'tiara' (TJ> Is 62'. But not so in Job 29', Is 3^ ; in Zee 3' I'JJf is tr. itiSopis, a rendering also given to the high priest's turban in Ezk 21" 28, Lv 16). In 1 Mac P 13** it describes the strictly royal insignia for the head adopted by the Greeks from the Persians (StdSTjjoa t^s 'Ao-ias).

In AV of OT, diadem is again used loosely for the high priest's turban (Ezk 21* n?JSP), a royal tiara (Job 29", Is 62' >)•};() and a crown (Is 28' iTss). RV more properly confines diadem to the last three passages, using ' mitre ' in Ezk 21^, and also ' turban ' in the marg. of Job 29". But tliough tlius the royal head-dress of the kings of Israel is not described as a diadem, there can be but little doubt that it was such (see Crown).

In NT the distinction between crown and diadem is accurately observed in the Gr. and in RV, but not in AV. Diadem should be read in Rev 12^ 13' 19'^, where it symbolizes respect- ively the empire of 'the dragon,' 'the beast, and of the royal Christ. The phrase ' on his head were many diadems,' describes Christ's universal dominion (see Crown ; also for bibliography). G. T. PURVES. DIAL (n'l'pv?, i.va§a9ii.ol, horologium), RVm ' Heb. tteps,' 2 K 2t)", Is 38«.— The Heb.

word commonly denotes ' steps ' (see Ex 20^, 1 K 10"), and is so ren- dered elsewhere in this narrative (2 K 2U*"", Is 38'; AV degrees). Tlie ' steps ' referred to are doubt- less not simply the steps of the palace (so LXX, Jos. Ant. X. ii. 1), but formed part of some kind of sun-clock (so Targ., Vulg., Jerome on Is 38', and most commentators). According to Herod, ii.

109, tlie Babylonians were the inventors of the iroXo'i or concave dial, the yviifiuy, and the division of the day into 12 hours. The introduction by Ahai of a device for meas\iring the time may be re- garded as a result of his intercourse with the DIAMOND DIANA OF THE EPHESIANS 605 Assyrians (2 K 16"'"), but it is uncertain what kind of clock is intended. Some have supposed that it was in the form of a dial witli concentric circles, and a central gnomon (Ges., Ilitz., Keil, etc.)

; but it is doubtful whether niVi^t can denote 'degrees.' Hence it seems simpler to think of actual 'steps' arranged round a pillar or obelisk, the time of day being then indicated by the posi- tion of the shadow on the steps. Since in 2 K I.e. it is regarded as possible for the shadow to go down or to return 10 steps, it is clear that these steps did nDt each mark an hour of the day, but some smaller period of time. In biblical Heb.

, indeed, no word denoting an hour is found ; n^'y first appears in the Aram, of Dn 4" (Eng. '") 5'. Our ignorance of the real form of the 'dial' of Aliaz renders precarious all attempts at explaining the phenomenon of the recession of the sun's shadow. Moreover, a discussion of the problem requires a critical comparison of the parallel accounts in Is and 2 K ; and it must be recognized as probable on independent grounds, that our narrative is con- siderably later than the time of Hezekiah. Cf.

esp. Dillmann and Cheyne on Is 38'"'. H. A. White.