The tribe's name is a plural that apparently referred to the founders' original occupation; it means the "goat herders".
[1] Ma'zin is an Arabic word;[2] French archaeologist Javier Teixidor described the tribe as Arab,[3] while Michał Gawlikowski, head of the Polish archaeological expedition in Palmyra between 1980-2011, stated that the tribe is best understood as an alliance of pastoralists from different origins who settled in the city.
[1][4] Membership in the tribe seems to have been composite and its name suggest a nomadic origin; the tribe included different clans such as the bene Yedi'bel whose member Mattanai founded the Allat temple in Palmyra.
[4] Beside the Allat, the tribe was responsible for the Temple of Baalshamin.
[4] The Ma'zin was one of four tribes in Palmyra that constituted its city council which governed the city.