We seek refuge in you, O good one, your creation so wide,

During Khanwan’s season, a hundred sacrifices beside.

The tribe’s head, Dhu Qasad, you’ve raised with pride,

And Alhan Dhi Yahyar’s chest, you did not let hide.

The poor were fed bread, their hunger denied,

From the valley’s top, the spring’s flow you supplied.

In war and hardship, your strength was our guide,

False rulers, by your hand, were swiftly defied.

The spring’s flow increased, never to subside,

Elaz’s frankincense, you’ve always purified.

Through night’s darkest hours, your light was applied,

Blessings remembered, your provisions multiplied.

The vine into wine, under your sun’s stride,

Camel pastures expanded, as far as the tide.

The upright law, in our hearts, you’ve inscribed,

Covenant keepers rejoice, in happiness they confide.

Qasid’s alliances, with your signature tied,

Betraying nights to clear mornings, you’ve clarified.

Attackers against us, by your might, were denied,

Fortune seekers prospered, their earnings supplied.

Those stumbling in luck, with your portion satisfied,

In fertile Al-Shuaib, abundance you’ve not denied.

Yadhkur’s well with buckets, you’ve always filled,

Praise for your blessings, in our songs implied.

Your promise, O steadfast, forever will abide,

Help us, O’ Shams, when rain clouds coincide.

To you, we pray, for even people were sacrificed,

In your refuge, O good one, our faith is fortified.

Introduction

Tayma was an important trade and religious center in North Arabia which attained prominence during the reign of king Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, during the 6th century BCE. Nabonidus lived there for ten years and ruled over a vast tract of desert extending from Tayma to Yathrib dotted with oases. He settled colonies of Babylonians in these oasis after fighting, then making peace with some unknown Arabian tribes. The Babylonians brought Aramean deities to the oasis as attested in this Aramaic Stele: "in the 22nd year … ' [in Taym]a, Ṣalm of Mahram and Shingala and Ashima*, the gods of Tayma, to* Ṣalm of [Hajam] . . appointed him on this day [in Tay]ma which … therefore … which Ṣalm-shezeb, son of Pet-osiri, set up [in the temple of S]alm of Hajam, therefore the Gods of "Tayma ma[de gra]nts to Ṣalm-shezeb, son of Pet-osiri, and to his seed in the temple of Ṣalm of Hajam. And any man who shall destroy this pillar, may the Gods of Tayma pluck out him and his seed and his name from before Tayma! And this is the grant which Ṣalm of Mahram and Shingala and Ashima, the gods of Tayma, have g[iven] to Ṣalm of Hajam … from the field 16 palms, and from the treasure of the king 5 palms, in all 21 palms year by year. And neither Gods nor men shall bri[ng out] Ṣalm-shezeb, son of Pet-osiri, from this temple, neither his se[ed] nor his name, who are prie[sts in] this temple [forever]." - Ṣalm-shezeb the priest.

The inscription records how a new deity, Ṣalm of Hajam, was introduced into Tayma by the priest Ṣalm-shezeb, who further provided an endowment for the new temple, and founded a hereditary priesthood. On one side of the stone the god Ṣalm of Hajam is represented in Assyrian fashion, and below him a priest stands before an altar. The name of the priest, Ṣalm-shezeb, means ”(the God) Ṣalm has saved” or ”Ṣalm saves (me)," an Aramaic name. The name of the priest's father is Egyptian, Pet-Osiri meaning "he whom Osiris gave." Tayma was at the crossroads for the caravans going to Egypt or Mesopotamia which made it an obligatory stop for travelers. And thus, like other oasis-caravan cities such as Palmyra, Tayma had a cosmopolitan character. Though this doesn't necessarily mean that his father was Egyptian as names don't always indicate ethnicity. We know that in Egypt Aramaeans gave their children Egyptian names and in the Greco-Roman period Arabs in Egypt would do this as well.

Deities

The chief God of Tayma was Ṣalm of Mahram. The word ṣalm is cognate with the Arabic صنم which today means idol/image but it could also mean "the strong one." Another explanation is that it is connected to the Arabic ẓalām ظلام (dark) and the Assyrian kakkabu dhalmu, the planet Saturn. Mahram is a place name apparently preserved in the Arabic Mahramah محرمة near Jebel Selma, close to Tayma. The word means holy place/sacred area. C. J. Gadd has compared the Tayma cube with steles found in Harran with astronomical symbols (the star of Ishtar-Venus, the winged disc of the sun God Shamash and the crescent of the moon God Sin). It is in Harran that we find many theophoric names with Salmu. A deity named Salmu is attested in many Aramaic inscriptions elsewhere and in Assyrian deity lists. This Ṣalmu might be the same one in Tayma where we also find the emblem of the sun God, the winged disk. It appears at the top left of the Tayma cube hovering above a humanoid figure. According to Gadd, the figure on the Tayma cube would be Ṣalm of Hajam being received by the Gods of Tayma, while the disk would be Salm of Mahram.

It is more likely that Ṣalm is represented by the bull-head altar since bullheads are frequently found with inscriptions mentioning Ṣalm, suggesting that Ṣalm was a lunar deity. This might be why Nabonidus was so interested in Tayma, he was a devotee of the moon God Sin and relocated to a city that was the center of moon God worship. The issue is that the inscriptions with bull-heads don't mention which Ṣalm they are referring to and the bull-heads themselves have solar disks between the horns anyway. Regardless, the fact that we have terms such as Ṣalm of Mahram and Ṣalm of Hajam indicate that Ṣalm was believed to be a tutelary deity of a given locality like the gny' (jinn) in Palmyra. In Palmyra there were many jinn who acted as tutelary deities of villages, settlements, encampments, orchards and tribes. Deities being "of" places is not unheard of in North Arabian, South Arabian and Aramaic, the most famous example being the Nabatean Dushara (of Shara). Ṣalm of Hajam, who was being introduced to Tayma in the inscription, might have come from Al-Hajam الهجم in Yemen. Another deity, Ṣalm of rb, also had a temple in Tayma. Inscriptions found in Najran and Jordan also record the deity Ṣalm. When Tayma waged war against Dedan or the Nabateans it was Ṣalm who lead these wars. Inscriptions mention nsr lslm (supported/aided Ṣalm) similar to the Quranic nasara نصر. Salm is found in many theophoric names such as *ṣlmd' "*Ṣalm has known," ṣlm'l "Ṣalm is God," and ṣlmškr "Ṣalm has been thanked."

The second deity mentioned is Šingala. Like Ṣalm, Šingala is found in many Aramaic theophoric names like Saggildaa "Saggil is judge" or Tab-Sagal "Saggil is good." Over the years there have been many explanation for the name Shingala. One suggestion is that it might be connected with the Goddess Shigal mentioned in Late Syriac sources like the lexicon of Bar Bahlul which claims She is the Chaldean equivalent of Aphrodite. Another is that it might be a compound of the Akkadian moon God Sin and some other word. Perhaps the Sumerian word gal which means "great," "the great Sin," or maybe it is Sin-egalla’ "Sin of the palace," or Sin-gly "Sin uncovers." Many more suggestions have been offered by various scholars, none truly satisfactory. Shingala or variants of it don't appear in any Akkadian deity lists. The best explanation we have is that Shingala is a compound of Shinga and El meaning "the great God" or "El is great." Such divine names are often found in Semitic deities such as the Amorite Yakrubel and the Hebrew El Shaddai. Sadly this doesn't tell us much about the nature or personality of this deity but Shingala is most likely a lunar deity.

Ašima doesn't show up in any cuneiform texts unless we accept the identification with Ishum, an Akkadian God who acts as a divine night watchman, tasked with protecting houses at night, and also associated with various underworld deities, especially Nergal and Shubula. Ašima was first incorrectly read as Ashira, a mother Goddess who appears in a number of ancient sources including South Arabian inscriptions. Ašima is found in Aramaic texts in Egypt in the compound name ’šmbyt’l "Ashima's baetyl." In the Hebrew Bible we find a mention of Ashima being worshipped by the people of Hamat 2 Kings 17:30 The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima. Like the previous deities, Ashima shows up in Aramaic personal names such as 'šmzbd "Ashima has given." Ashima comes from the root word 'šm or اسم in Arabic, meaning "name." As far as we know, Ashima is a Goddess, thus completing the Sun, Moon and Venus triad with Ashima as Venus, Ṣalm as the Sun and Shingala as the Moon. A similar triad is found in Dumat, another caravan city in Arabia. All the Taymanitic deities mentioned so far seem to be Aramean in origin and were first attested in North Syria before they show up in Tayma.

When Nabonidus made Tayma his home, he introduced the worship of many Akkadian deities including Nabu, patron God of literacy, the rational arts, scribes, and wisdom, His consort Tashmetu, Marduk, patron deity of the city of Babylon, Nanaya, a Goddess of love, closely associated with Inanna/Ishtar. These deities may have influenced or been transformed into Nabatean deities mentioned in the Greco-Roman period such as Al-Kutbay, a God of scribes like Nabu and Allāt and Alʿuzza may have been influenced by Nanaya. Ishtar, goddess of love, war, and fertility, is also mentioned in cuneiform fragments found in Tayma and Her cult has long been connected to those of Allāt and Alʿuzza, all three are considered Venusian deities. The Mesopotamian empires eventually succumbed to the Achaemenid Empire and its during this period that we start hearing about what are usually considered Arabian deities proper, though invoked in Imperial Aramaic, the lingua franca of the region. Salm continues to be worshipped but we start hearing about deities such as Manafu, known as Manaf in Islamic sources, attested in the Hauran as Zeus Manaphos and even mentioned in Palmyra with Tammuz. The Goddess Manawatu, commonly known as Manāt, also shows up in this period. The Nabateans and Lihyanites fought over Tayma though this doesn't seem to have affected it's pantheon.

Neo-Babylonian Period

• Ṣalm/Ṣalam: A tutelary solar deity associated with the sun disk and bull
• Šingala/Šangila: Likely a lunar deity
• Ašima: A Venusian Goddess *Nabu: God of writing and wisdom. His name means "to prophesize"
• Tašmetu/Tašmetum: Consort of Nabu. Her name means “the lady who listens”
• Marduk: God of Babylon astrologically associated with the planet Jupiter
• Nanaya: Goddess of love associated with eroticism and sensuality
• Ištar: Goddess of war and love associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power

Persian Period

• Ṣalm/Ṣalam: This tutelary solar deity continues to be worshipped in this period
• Manafu/Manaf: A God equated with Zeus in the Hauran
• Manawatu/Manawat/Manat: Goddess of time, fate, fortune, destiny and death

A tablet from nineteenth century BC Anatolia mentions a Puzu-Ishtar ‘the Tadmuraean’ (Palmyrene) as witness to a contract. But there are very few references to Tadmur in historical texts until the first century BC, when it grows into a substantial settlement. Because of its central location on the route between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean, the city was always in danger of being conquered by greater powers. It finally was conquered in 20 AD by Rome. It became thoroughly Romanized getting a senate, magistrates, theatre, colonnaded streets, etc.

When the Sassanians captured the Roman emperor Valerian, Odenathus son of Hairan son of Wahb-Allat son of Nasor, a leading citizen of Palmyra and a Roman senator, stepped into the power vacuum and took up Rome’s cause. He was of mixed Arab-Aramean ancestry. His name, the name of his father, Hairan, and that of his grandfather, Wahb-Allat, are Arabic while Nasor, his great-grandfather, has an Aramaic name. At that point Arabs have been in Palmyra for centuries. They migrated to the city in the later half of the first millennium BC and formed a significant segment of the aristocracy. Two hundred years prior to Odenathus there was Sheikh Zabdibel, who aided the Seleucids in the battle of Raphia and was mentioned as the commander of "the Arabs and neighboring tribes to the number of ten thousands." The Arabs introduced their Gods to the city and built temples and wrote inscriptions in Their honor. This makes Palmyra an important city for understanding Arab polytheism.

Ba'al Hamon and Manawat

Ba'al Hamon was brought to Palmyra from Canaanite lands by Arab tribes. The worship of Canaanite deities among Arabs should not surprise us as the oldest Arabic inscription invokes Malkom and Kemosh and Qos, all Canaanite Gods of the Iron Age. In 89 AD the Arab tribe of the Bene Agrud built a sanctuary in Ba'al Hamon's honor on top of Jebel Muntar giving Him the status of the God of the high place of Palmyra. The inscription commemorating the dedication of the sanctuary consists of three lines:

"To Ba'al Hamon, Moqimu son of Moqimu son of Zabdibol ‘Arima and Yarhibola son of Malku son of Lishamsh son of Hannibel ’A'abai, at their own expense, have erected this sanctuary, and the portico of alabaster which is in front of it, and the portico which is below, and all the ceiling, and its door, and the Srgb’ in bronze. And they have also offered the sanctuary of Manawat and its portico, and all its decoration, for their lives, and the lives of their children and brothers for ever. In the month Iyyar, the year 400 (May, 89 AD)"

Ba'al Hamon was identified with Bel due Babylonian influence. The mountain sanctuary of Ba'al Hamon stood as the dwelling place of Bel on the basis of a parallelism with that of the Mesopotamian God who had a temple on top of the ziggurat and another one at its base. Ba'al Hamon is often paired with Manawat, Goddess of time, fortune, and destiny, though it is not known if They formed a married couple. Manawat was also popular in Hegra, the southern extend of the Nabataean kingdom. Inscriptions tell us that She is a Goddess who appropriates gifts to Her worshipers and presides over chance and luck, like an Arabian Nemesis or Tyche. Ba'al Hamon and Manawat were the Fortunes (Gads) of Bene Agrud.

Ba'al Shamin

The cult of Ba'al Shamin at Palmyra was also brought into the oasis by Arab tribes that came from the Anti-Lebanon or the Hauran. Ba'al Shamin, a weather God, a patron of farmers and shepherds, was adored along the Levantine coast in the second millennium BC, and His cult became the religious patrimony of the Phoenicians in the beginning of the first millennium BC. The epithet Ba‘al Shamin, “Lord of Heaven,” can also be used to denote the supreme God of any local pantheon, such as Dushara among the Nabateans. Lord of Heaven, signifying the God to Whom the heavens belong. Ba'al Shamin is thus neither the Moon God nor the Sun God, but rather the equivalent of the Greek Zeus or the Roman Jupiter. Ba'al Shamin is already mentioned in the first part of the fourteenth century BC in the treaties concluded between Shuppiluliuma, king of the Hittites, and Niqmadu II, king of Ugarit. At the Hittite fortress of Karatepe He heads a list of deities described as "the whole group of the children of the Gods’’ indicating that He presides over the assembly of the Holy Ones. Josephus, writing around 100 AD but quoting from reliable sources preserved in the archives of Tyre, asserts that the cult of Ba'al Shamin was current in that city in the tenth century BC.

A Greek bilingual inscription from Palmyra calls Ba'al Shamin "Zeus Most High and the One who listens to prayers.” This is translated to Aramaic as mare 'alma, "Lord of the World/Eternity” which is translated into Greek as Zeus megystos keraunios "Zeus the Bearer of Thunder." In the Hauran epekoos (who-listens-to-prayer) was an epithet of Ba'al Shamin exclusively. He is styled the “Most High” (hypsistos), an epithet which was translated into Latin as summus exsuperantissimus "the Most Superior" in order to indicate that He was superior to all other divine beings. He is the sixth most invoked deity among Safaitic nomads and there's even an inscription that references the Ba'al Cycle. Ba'al Shamin's cult spread toward the arable lands of Syria, and His preeminence as a supreme weather God was acknowledged in the Hauran and in the Anti-Lebanon by Arab tribes. It is from these buffer zones between the coast and the Syrian Desert that the cult of Baal Shamin reached Palmyra. The tribe of the Bene Maazin seem to have owned the temple of Ba'al Shamin. In 62 AD a member of the Bene Maazin offered an altar to Ba'al Shamin, Durahlun (dwrhlwn), Rahim (rhm), and the Gad (gd) of Yedi'ebel. Greek bilingual inscriptions identify Ba'al Shamin and Durahlun with Zeus implying that They weren't separate entities.

Ten out of nineteen inscriptions found in the temple of Ba'al Shamin mention His name followed by that of Durahlun, which most probably means Du-Rahlun, i.e. “the One of Rahle.” Durahlun would have been the supreme God of the region of Rahle, on Mt. Hermon. The earliest inscriptions from the temple of Ba'al Shamin call Him and Durahlun "the Good Gods" and "the Good and Bountiful Gods." This association of Ba'al Shamin with Durahlun, the tribal God of the Arab group that migrated from the Anti-Lebanon to Palmyra, indicates that the God of the Rahle region had been accepted by the priests of Ba'al Shamin because He was thought to be a sort of "avatar" of the Lord of Heaven. Before migrating to Palmyra the Arabs tribes must've been influenced by the religious traditions of the Phoenicians and the association at Palmyra of Ba'al Shamin with the God of Rahle, on the Hermon, is a remnant of this. Ba'al Shamin also has angels. Inscriptions mention the “Holy Brothers” or “Holy Angels” of Ba'al Shamin, Malakbel and Aglibol. This triad echoes an Aramaic inscription from about the fifth century BC, found in Cilicia, which invokes Ba'al Shamin, “the great,” the Moon/Dawn God Shahr, and the Sun God Shamash.

Shamash

Shamash is the God of the Sun, justice, and oracles. In ancient Mesopotamia He committed law to kings, guided living creatures rightly, bore witness to oaths and is called is called the Lord of Oracular Decisions. The earliest reference connecting Shamash with the Arabs comes from the Iron Age. After revolting Arabs were defeated by the Assyrian king Esarhaddon, their priestess queen, Teelhunu, was forced to settle in Assyria. When Esarhaddon reinstated Hazael as king of Duma, he was willing to return Teelhunu to the Arab monarch in view of her position as priestess. Esarhaddon consulted the oracle of Shamash to learn whether he should return the priestess to her country. The oracle said yes and Teelhunu was allowed to return to Arabia. Its possible that Teelhunu introduced the worship of Shamash to the Arabs after this incident. Shamash was worshiped in the Arab quarter of Palmyra at least since the first century BC. There were two other solar Gods in Palmyra, Yarhibol, Malakbel, but they could not have all been the Sun God. Very likely Shamash alone impersonated the Sun God to the Arab ancestors of the Palmyrenes, Yarhibol and Malakbel having been associated with the sun only by the theological reasoning of priests.

Strabo says of the Nabateans that "they worship the sun, building an altar on top of the house, and pouring libations on it daily and burning frankincense" although mentions of Shamash in Nabataea are rare. Shamash was also worshipped by Arabs living in Hatra and on its coins Hatra presented itself as "Hatra (sacred enclosure/fortress) of the Sun God, Shamash" which suggests that the whole city was dedicated to Shamash. The Hatrene ruler Nasru was even the high priest of Shamash and so were his descendants. This parallels the situation in Emesa where Arab kings acted as priests of the Sun God Elegabal, a God assimilated to Helios in later times. Although Elegabal was worshipped as a mountain God by the original inhabitants of Emesa He became a Sun God after Sampsigeramus ("Shamash has decided") had established his rule there. The cult of the Sun reached its climax under the Roman Emperor Elagabalus, who was of Emesene origin, and had been a priest of the local Elahgabal. The heliolatry propagated by Elagabalus succeeded in merging the cult of the emperors with that of Sol Invictus. Under Aurelianus the cult of the Sun became a state religion. The Arab cult of the Sun which had flourished in many Syrian cities during the Greco-Roman period was transformed by the Roman philosophers, and the Sun became the ever-present image of the intelligible God. This is clearly stated in Julian’s Hymn to King Helios.

Arsu, Azizu and Mun'im

Another city where the cult of the Sun God excelled was Edessa. Here, the traditional cult of Sin, the Moon God of Harran, had prevailed ever since the beginning of the first millennium BC. In the early centuries AD Sin is still called "Lord of the Gods” but the increasing influence of the solar theology had already engulfed the Edessenes, for when Emperor Julian delivered his oration on Helios at Antioch he said that the Edessenes worshiped the Sun flanked by Azizos and Monimos, two deities to be identified with Ares and Hermes, according to Iamblichus. Thus Monimos is the planet Mercury, whereas Azizos is Mars. Azizos comes from the Arabic Azizu ’’the strong one” while Monimos comes from Mun'im "the favorable one." A tradition similar to that of Edessa is found in the Hauran. An altar in the Museum of Sweida represents the eagle, symbol of the sun, standing with its wings fully spread on a bust of Azizu. Some scholars believe that in the Hauran, Azizu and Mun'im stood for Phosphorus, the Morning Star, and Hesperus, the Evening Star. The Edessean theology may have developed as a result of the popularity that the cult of Helios/Shamash gained in the Levant.

At Palmyra, one relief shows Azizu together with Arsu. They are called the "Good and Bountiful Gods" and Azizu is called "the good and compassionate God." Arsu is seen riding a camel and Azizu a horse. The camel is Arsu’s animal as protector of caravans. The Greeks saw Him as an Ares, the God of war, as shown by a bilingual inscription from the temple of Ba'al Shamin. On some tesserae Arsu is associated with Hermes/Mercury, no doubt in the latter’s role as the patron of merchants. The epithet of Arsu is r'yy’ or r'y' i.e. the one who loves. It must be emphasized that there is only one occasion so far discovered on which Arsu and Azizu are associated at Palmyra, and that on other reliefs and inscriptions each is associated with other deities, or appears alone. There is no evidence of Arsu having a similar relationship to Azizu as Mun'im does, and no evidence of the conflation between Arsu and Mun'im as some earlier scholars have attempted to prove. There is also no evidence of any astral association, either. Just because Arsu was conflated with Ares and associated with Hermes does not mean that Arsu was associated with the planet Mars or the planet Mercury.

Rahim

Rahim was worshiped together with Shamash and Allat in the temple erected in the western quarter of the city. The name Rahim (rhm) is probably related to the attribute rahman, ‘‘the compassionate,” often applied to the Palmyrene Gods. The Quranic epithets of Allah, ar-rahman ar-raheem, ‘‘the Merciful and the Compassionate,” are also good parallels to the Palmyrene name. Rahim may be the epithet given to their God by some Arab tribes of the oasis long before they settled there. The inscriptions show that the devotees of Rahim were also worshipers of Allat. The Bene Maazin and their associates, the Bene Nurbel, excelled in this devotion. The worship of these two deities was essential in the religious life of the Arabs in Palmyra. Rahim is also mentioned in three Safaitic inscriptions and the name also often appears in the Mishnah and the Babylonian Talmud as one of the names of Yahweh.

Jinn?

Some divine beings in Palmyra are frequently called gny', ginnaya, plural ginnayi, namely, genii. This Aramaic term is cognate with the Arabic word jinn, which means "to conceal." The Palmyrene ginnaya may have been conflated with the Latin genius. Greco-Roman writers acknowledged the existence of deities who were tutelaries of people and places. In petitions and oaths Romans often appealed to the "genii” of the persons addressed. The concern of these genii was to take care of human lives and enterprises. The Palmyrenes worshiped Them everywhere and gave Them the epithet šbb' “close,” meaning that the beings were guardians of people. The Palmyrene genii were frequently invoked in pairs. Some scholars believe that certain pairs of divine beings stand for the Roman Dioscuri but there is very little evidence for a cult of Castor and Pollux at Palmyra or in the Palmyrene region. They instead probably have Semitic roots maybe connected to the Gods of dawn and dusk.

The Palmyrenes acknowledged the genii as protectors of their caravans, their herds, and their desert villages. Camels loaded with all kinds of products were easy prey for bandits. The caravans had to be escorted through the desert and this, the Palmyrenes believed, was the main occupation of the genii. The tutelary entities are consistently portrayed wearing what would be the traditional dress at the time. Reliefs depicting the genii have been found primarily in the wadis and outskirts of Palmyra or in the hamlets that surrounded the oasis in Roman times. Here the Arab tribesmen lived as semi-nomads, which was not the case with the Arabs living in the city itself. In the Roman era the hamlets around Palmyra were not only centers of settled life but also relays for the passing caravans. In this environment the cult of the tutelary genii proliferated. They were believed to protect flocks and caravans and therefore shrines were erected in Their honor. The connection between the Palmyrene ginnaya and the later jinn of Islam is unclear.

Abgal and His Companions

The God Abgal is often depicted as a youth with long hair and mustache, wearing the local costume while holding a lance. Sometimes He is riding a horse with a bow and quiver. An inscription from Khirbet Semrin indicates that Yarhibol had placed Abgal in charge of the village: "Let Abgal, His brothers, and the members of His house be remembered by Yarhibol who gave Abgal authority over this locality forever. Let whoever fears Abgal be remembered." Abgal had a Greco-Roman style sanctuary in Khirbet Semrin where He was paired with Ma'nu. Like other pairs such as Ba'al Shamin and Durahlun, or Azizu and Arsu, Abgal and Ma'nu are called "the Good and Bountiful Gods." Abgal is also mentioned with Aglibol, Malakbel, and "the jinn" in the same sanctuary.

In Jebel al-Abiad He is invoked with other deities including Bel, Baal Shamin, Aglibol, Malakbel, Astarte, Nemesis, and Arsu. Worship of Abgal is appears late, in the second and third centuries, and He was not worshipped in the city of Palmyra itself but in satellite villages. This indicates that Abgal is a God of the Syrian steppe. Another indication of this is the fact that Abgal being associated with Aglibol and Malakbel is not common and it is much more common for Him to be associated with other steppe Gods such as Azizos, Ma'anu, Ashar, or Shalman worshipped by nomads and semi-nomads of the Syrian desert. These were all depicted in a very similar style, as warrior Gods with long hair, mustache and weaponry. Often riding a camel or horse. They were also all given the epithet "good and bountiful" and often called gny'. Ma'nu was worshipped with Abgal in His sanctuary but He is much more frequently paired with another deity named Sha'ad(u). Ma'an rides a horse like Arsu while Sha'ad rides a camel like Azizu. Ma'nu's feast was celebrated on the 16th of August. Shalman has a sister, the Goddess Shalmanat. They seem to be identical with the Assyrian Shulman and Shulmanitu.

Gads

Many different Gads were worshipped in Palmyra including tribal Gads such as Gad Taimi and the Gads of cities such as Palmyra and Dura-Europos. They were often depicted as the Goddess Tyche/Fortuna but sometimes also depicted as a male God in native dress. A Gad personified the protection given by a God to specific individuals and groups. Among the Safaitic nomads, the great tribal confederations of Ḍayf and ʿAwīḏ each have their own Gad, but so do outside nations, such as the Nabataeans (Gad-Nabaṭ).

Deities that Require More In-Depth Discussion

I have already written an article on Allat. Its an article I plan on updating/reworking in the future. Shay' Al-Qaum also deserves His own post and there is also much more to be said about Ba'al Shamin and the Gads.

Further Reading:

• The Pantheon Of Palmyra
• The Religion and Rituals of the Nomads of Pre-Islamic Arabia
• The Pagan God: popular religion in the Greco-Roman Near East
• Who Are the “Attendants of Helios”
• The God Gad

!

Qedar, a tribe or confederation which existed between about the 8th to 5th centuries BC, is only scantily understood, but may in fact be the first known exercise in Arab history in forging a unity larger than the kinship-based tribe. This unity was formed around a center of cultic pilgrimage and worship; Dumat, in the north of the peninsula, sacred to a number of tribes. It became the seat of their confederation and the base of their religion. Later on other centers of pilgrimage would be founded such as Sia', Khirbet Et-Tannur, Mecca and Petra.

The Gods worshipped at Dumat are mentioned in the Esarhaddon Prism from the 7th century BC: For the return of his gods he prayed me and I showed him favour and the gods Atarsamain, Dai, Nuhai, Ruldaiu, Abirillu, Atarkuruma, the gods of the Arabians, their ruined [effigies] I restored and the might of Ashur, my lord, and the writing of my name upon them I wrote and gave them back to him. The reduced phonology of Akkadian resulted in loss of information when the deities' names were transliterated. Therefore reconstructing the original Arabic names can be tricky and error prone.

The worship of Atarsamain was widespread among Arab tribes except in Nabataea. Atarsamain ("Morning Star of Heaven" عثتر سمين), which I will now call by the more accurate Arabic ʿAṯtart Samay (عثترة السمي/السماء), is associated with Venus. Some have proposed that Athtart Samay could be equivalent to Allat but this identification is difficult because under Hellenistic influence Allāt was identified with Athena/Minerva and not Aphrodite/Venus. But before the Hellenistic era Herodotus does identify Her with Aphrodite: "They believe in no other gods except Dionysus and the Heavenly Aphrodite... They call Dionysus, Orotalt; and Aphrodite, Alilat." (Histories, Book 3) Herodotus also associates Astarte with Heavenly Aphrodite saying: "The great goddess (Mother of Heaven and Earth) worshipped by Eastern nations under various names—Mylitta in Assyria, Astarte in Phoenicia: called Heavenly Aphrodite, or simply the Heavenly One, by the Greeks." (Histories, Book 1) The identification of Allāt with Astarte and thus Heavenly Aphrodite is found in Palmyra where Arab families would sometimes invoke their patron deity as Allāt, and sometimes as Astarte/Ishtar.

The worship of a Venusian deity by Arabs is further confirmed by the remark of Jerome that Saint Hilarion "arrived at Elusa on the very day that a solemn festival had brought all the people of the town to the temple of Venus; for the Saracens worship this Goddess as the Morning Star and their race is dedicated to Her cult." The Arabs also worshipped a male deity associated with Venus known as Azizos/ʿAziz. ʿAziz was identified as Ares by emperor Julian in his work 'Hymn to King Helios'. He says: "The inhabitants of Emesa, a place from time immemorial sacred to Helios, associate with Helios in their temples Monimos and Azizos. Iamblichus, from whom I have taken this and all besides, a little from a great store, says that the secret meaning to be interpreted is that Monimos is Hermes and Azizos Ares, the assessors of Helios, who are the channel for many blessings to the region of our earth." This might explain why Allāt was identified with Athena instead of Aphrodite in the Hellenistic era; the Arabs understood the personification of Venus to have a warrior aspect. It also explains what happened to ʿAṯtarat Samay, She was simply referred to as "the Goddess" which is what Allāt means.

The second deity mentioned is Da'y (دأي) most likely to mean crow. Da'y occurs only three times in personal names in Sabaean inscriptions and is a bird deity according to Knauf. They occur in the names hyt'd'y and whbd'y, the latter following the same formula found in the name WahbAllat. The terms d'y and d'yt are also found in Safaitic inscriptions in Wadi Ramm and in Qatabanian inscriptions where d'yn seems to be a clan name. It is difficult to say anything about the nature of this God.

Nuha is mentioned in inscriptions found in the vicinity of Dumat, written in a similar language and script to those of Tayma, which offer prayers to Nuha and a number of divinities. One requests "help in the matter of my love" from Ruḍaw, Nuha and ʿAṯtart Samay, all three known to the Assyrians as Gods of Qedar. None are dated, but they most likely belong to the period of Qedar’s prosperity in the 8th to 5th centuries BC. In Nejd we have inscriptions that point out that emotions are a gift of the Gods, some from Nuha and Ruḍaw: "by Nuha is the flying into a rage", "by Nuha is the jealousy of a lover", "by Ruḍaw is weeping." The name Nuha/NHY seems to mean "the wise" or "the ultimate." One early Thamudic B inscription mentions Nuha with the epithet "the elevated sun" thus Nuha could be associated with the Sun. The word could, however, also refer to a divinity connected with a special kind of wisdom. In the Old Testament there are traditions of wisdom in Teman, which may be a region south of Edom, such as Tayma, and Nuha could have some connection with these traditions.

Ruldaiu could be identified with the god Orotalt mentioned by Herodotus. The theory goes that at the time of Herodotus (5th century BC) the ض in Ruldaiu/Ruḍaw was pronounced by Greeks as 'ld' leading eventually to Orotalt. Ruḍaw appears together with Allāt in Thamudic B and Safaitic inscriptions. In the latter, Allāt and Ruḍaw appear together as the main divinities, invoked more than any other deity, and invoked together frequently. Interestingly, Ruḍaw is absent from Hismaic, Dadanitic and Nabataean inscriptions and is not associated with Allāt in Thamudic B inscriptions, this is perhaps because Allāt was called by Her original name, Athtart Samay. Ruḍaw's identification with Dionysus by Herodotus is a clue to the nature of His cult among the Arabs. According to Herodotus, the Arabian Dionysus had his hair cropped. This is a ceremony performed on bridegrooms in many parts of the Middle East to this day, and its also well documented among modern Bedouin as an initiation into adulthood. It's likely that the cropping of hair, like circumcision, originally belonged to the rites of puberty, wedding and entrance into adult society. Dionysus was not only the god of wine, there is also a myth about his birth. The story of Dionysus’ second birth from the thigh of Zeus hints at an initiation ritual, and it might have a connection with the Sacred Band of Thebes. This makes the connection between Arabs and Dionysus more understandable and it should be kept in mind that the role of Dionysus as the God of wine isn't a complete picture of his true nature in the 5th century BC.

Ḏušarē was also associated with Dionysus. Knauf assumes that Ruḍaw and Ḏušarē were two names for the same God but Ḏušarē's connection to Dionysus has more to do with Dionysus as a vegetation God while Ruḍaw's/Oratalt's identification with Dionysus has more to do with Dionysus as an initiatory God. Additionally, the two Gods are linked to different locations. Ḏušarē, as the name suggests, was linked to the Shara (Seir) mountain range and was also called the "God of Gaia," Gaia being an area in modern-day Wadi Musa. Dushara was also said to be mn rqm "from Petra," while Ruḍaw was given the epithet "from Chaldea." Here we seem to have two cults, that of Dushara and Alʿuzza in the core Nabataean area and that of Ruḍaw and Allat. Ruḍaw's cult originated in the southern extremity of Babylon, where Arab settlements are reported in cuneiform sources, and later spread to Dumat. In Dumat, Ruḍaw became associated with ʿAṯtart Samay and understood to be Her father, and the cult further spread around the region, particularly to the Hawran. The astral significance of ʿAṯtart Samay may also imply that Ruḍaw was also astral and some have proposed a connection between Ruḍaw and the divine astral pair ʿZZ/ʿAziz/Azizos and 'RSW/Arsu/MNʿM/Munʿim/Monimos found in Palmyra and Emesa. Here Ruḍaw is identified as Arsu/Munʿim and would be paired with ʿAziz, representing the evening and morning stars respectively. It thus seems that the Arabs were linked to the cults in Syria through the God Ruḍaw as the guardian of ceremonies of initiation and passing from one state to another. The Arabs were also linked to the cults in Mesopotamia with Ruḍaw and Allat paralleling Ishtar and Sin.

The Islamic tradition is ignorant of Ruḍaw's nature. We are told that "Ruḍaw" belonged to the clan of Rabiʿa bin Saʿd of Tamim. Verses are given attributed to a certain Mustawghir of this clan referring his "destruction of Ruḍaw." The importance of Ruḍaw's cult is indirectly stressed by Al-Mustawghir's rage, though the idea of the Muslim tradition being a reliable reference point to inscriptions has been challenged. We are further told that "some of the narrators" have reported that Ruḍaw was a sanctuary or stele (baeytl). Ruḍaw seems to play no part in the stories about Muhammad or the "jahiliyya" and little can be gleaned from the verses about Ruḍaw's nature. It is not obvious whether "Ruḍaw" in Islamic-period texts refers to a deity, a sanctuary, a statue or even a person. It seems unlikely that Ruḍaw was actually worshipped on the even of Islam and inscriptions in West Arabia written in the centuries prior to Islam show no trace of Ruḍaw's cult and he is not mentioned in the Quran. There is nothing to suggest the survival of Ruḍaw's worship past the 4th century AD. There is, in fact, no evidence of any sort of paganism surviving past the 5th century in the epigraphic record. It is of course possible that Ruḍaw remained venerated among marginal groups who did not write any inscriptions, or none that we've found yet.

The nature and identity of the two remaining Gods of Dumat, Abirillu and Atarkuruma, are difficult to grasp. We don't even know what the name Abirillu looked like in Old Arabic. Knauf has speculated that Abirillu might be a deified king but admits that it's difficult to say anything about them. Atarkuruma might be a second local manifestation of ʿAṯtart Samay. Kuruma might come from quram قَرَم meaning camel calf or qarm قَرْم which refers to a horse that's left to graze freely. Finally, there's qorm قُرْم which is a mangrove tree found in the Gulf.

Epiphanius of Salamis talks about the birth of Dushara from a virgin (Panarion 4th century AD) and some scholars have concluded that the figurines could represent Al-‘Uzza and Her son Dushara, although this suggestion was not adopted by other scholars. Its more likely that Epiphanius's account is of Dushara and His mother Allat, not Al-'Uzza, since Allat was given the epithet "Mother of Gods" and Al-'Uzza seems to be Dushara's consort, not mother. That being said, here is Epiphanius's report:

"The leaders of the idolaters … in many places hold a great feast on the very night of Epiphany… First of all, in Alexandria they hold festival in what is called the Coreum, which is a great temple, namely the sacred precinct of Core. They stay awake the whole night singing hymns to the idol to the accompaniment of flutes. They keep it up the entire night, and after cockcrow torchbearers descend into an underground shrine and bring up a wooden statue seated naked on a litter… They carry the statue in a circle seven times around the very center of the temple to the accompaniment of flutes, kettledrums, and hymns and thus reveling carry it back down to the place underground. Asked what the rite means, they say: Today at this hour Core (meaning the virgin) engendered Aeon. This is also done in the city of Petra ... in the temple of the idol there. They sing hymns to the virgin in Arabic, calling her in Arabic “Chaamu”, which means Core or “virgin”, and the one born from her “Dusares”…The rite is also performed in the city of Elusa on that night as in Petra and Alexandria."

The festival occurred at the winter solstice on the 6th of January and was celebrated as a mystery in several Mediterranean cultures. The birth of Dushara can be compared with the birth of Jesus as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ took place on the 6th of January in the East until Justinian, who in 560 AD urged the Christians in Jerusalem to adopt the earlier Roman date. This brings us back to solar imagery for the cult of Christ was often identified with the Sun among early Christian Arabs; Christ had risen at sunrise and the resurrection was equated with the rising, the second coming was expected from the east, early churches often faced the east. The birth of Mithras also occurred that night. The winter solstice was a birth of light and expressed fertility, the rebirth of vegetation. The continual rebirth of deities makes Them immortal. The concept of rebirth and resurrection was common to many ancient Semitic religions. This was particularly prevalent in Phoenician religion, where it was a part of the cult of Melqart. Melqart was often Hellenized as Adonis, and was related to the ancient Sumerian Dummuzi, biblical Tammuz, where rebirth and resurrection figured highly.

Like the mysteries at Eleusis and those of Isis and Osiris the festival must've been a profound experience. Gathering at the temple of Dushara in the evening of the 5th of January, staying the whole night, and singing hymns to the accompaniment of flutes and drums. Perhaps they partook in some entheogens or fasting or perhaps the long hours of singing and music was enough to induce a mystical experience or trance. After many hours, the first light, the Morning Star, and the rising of the sun announces the birth and epiphany of Dushara, indicated also by revealing the baetyl, which then is carried seven times in a circumambulation around the temple to be presented to all worshippers, making the epiphany public.

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Dusares or Dushara, being a mountain God, is also a storm God as is custom in the Ancient Near East, which would give Him a fertility aspect. A parallel can be drawn with Dhu-Ghābat, “He of the thicket”, the supreme God of the Lihyanites, Dushara is in the same way a God of vegetation and fertility. This fertility aspect allowed for the identification of Dushara with Dionysus as God of fertility but the evidence for this is inconclusive. Several ancient writers, including Herodotus from the 5th century BC, Strabo from the 1st century AD, and lexicographer Hesychius from the 5th century AD, all say that the Arabs worshipped Dionysus. Hesychius in particular directly equates Dushara and Dionysus but this is not attested in Nabatean inscriptions. Nor is there any evidence for Dushara being depicted as Dionysus in Petra. The Hauran, which became the center of Arabia Petraea, is known for its agriculture including grapes. Sia’, a temple of pilgrimage known from Safaitic inscriptions is full of grape and vine imagery though it was probably a temple to Ba’al Shamin not Dushara nor Dionysus. There are depictions of Dionysus in Petra but none are linked to Dushara. Dushara’s identification with Dionysus might have to do with the cult of the dead and resurrection, linking Him with Osiris. It’s interesting to note that Dushara’s consort Al-'Uzza was associated with Osiris’s consort, Isis. More on this later.

Dushara as supreme storm God was more often compared with Zeus. His assimilation with Zeus seems natural as both are the respective heads of Their pantheons and are storm Gods. Evidence for this pairing can be found on a 1st century BC bilingual inscription from Miletus, Greece at the temple of Apollo: “Syllaeus, brother of the king, on behalf of king Obodas, dedicated to Zeus Dusares Soter (Savior).” Another inscription in the island of Delos mentions Zeus Dusares. Eagle and lion imagery in His temples might show a link with Zeus-Hadad though this can also imply a solar aspect, power or protection without a direct link to Zeus. Dushara was called Zeus Hypsistos in Petra and this title was also given to Ba’al Shamin in Palmyra, another supreme storm God, though this does not mean that Dushara is Ba’al Shamin. The cult of Zeus Hypsistos was widespread and could be attached to the local supreme God of many places. One coin depicts a deity’s bust above thunderbolts and thunderbolts are found in many temples though not directly linked to Zeus nor Dushara. Another coin has a bull on the obverse side which might suggest a link with Zeus-Hadad but this is local money and it probably doesn’t refer to a deity in Syria. It rather expresses the fertility aspect of Dushara. An altar dedicated to Zeus Hagios was found on the northern bank of Gaia, today Wadi Musa, opposite the Temenos of Dushara’s temple (Qaṣr al-Bint) and there’s another one in Siq. There is also a terracotta relief of Zeus Ammon found at the Temple of the Winged Lions.

As Lord of Heaven with solar features Dushara could be associated with Helios. This goes back to Strabo (or rather his informer Athenodoros) informing us that the Nabataeans “worship the sun, building an altar on the top of the house (or temple?), and pouring libations on it daily and burning frankincense.” The presence of eagles in many temples might imply solar imagery and the epithets of Dushara include aspects of Sol Invictus like one from Suwayda set up by a priest of Dushara which honors Him with the title aniketos (invincible), an epithet normally reserved for Sol Invictus. In Hegra an inscription describes a God “who separates night from day,” which might refer to Dushara. If it does it might mean Dushara is a creator God. Solar deities were common throughout the Near East such as Elagabal of Emesa and Heliopolitanus of Baalbek. Palmyra had three distinct solar Gods, Shamash, Yarhibol and Malakbel. Either Elegabal or one of the Palmyran Gods became Sol Invictus though scholars are in disagreement as to which one. In Petra there are approximately 15 to 19 high places, many of which may be associated with the worship of Dushara, based on the presence of betyls and the simplicity of architecture atop each space. These could also link Dushara to the sun. If Helios was assimilated with any deity in Nabataea it would’ve been Dushara but there’s no direct link. There are depictions of Helios in Petra, like there are of Dionysus, but usually as part of façades with other Olympian Gods or as part of the 7 classical planets without any association with Dushara. Dushara definitely has solar features but as Lord of Heaven and not as a sun God in a triad with a moon deity and Venusian deity as seen in Duma and Tayma.