Dushara (Nabataean Arabic: 𐢅𐢈𐢝𐢛𐢀 dwšrʾ), also transliterated as Dusares, is a pre-Islamic Arabian god worshipped by the Nabataeans at Petra and Madain Saleh (of which city he was the patron).[ citation needed ] Safaitic inscriptions imply he was the son of the goddess Al-Lat, and that he assembled in the heavens with other deities. He is called "Dushara from Petra" in one inscription. Dushara was expected to bring justice if called by the correct ritual. [1]
Dushara is known first from epigraphic Nabataean sources who invariably spell the name dwšrʾ, the Nabataean script denoting only consonants. He appears in Classical Greek sources as Δουσάρης (Dousárēs) and in Latin as Dusares. The original meaning is disputed, but early Muslim historian Hisham ibn al-Kalbi in his "Book of Idols" explains the name as Dhū l-Šarā (Arabic : ذو الشرى), "etymologically probably 'the one of the Shara (mountains north of Petra)'", referring to a mountain range southeast of the Dead Sea now known as al-Sharat. [2] This interpretation is accepted by some scholars, and compared to other Canaaite deities who are associated with mountains or geographic areas (such as Baal Lebanon, Baal Hermon, and YHWH Teman and YHWH Shomron from Kuntillet Ajrud inscriptions). [3] If this interpretation is correct, Dushara would be more of a title than a proper name, but both the exact form of the name and its interpretation are disputed. [4] [5]
| Part of the myth series on Religions of the ancient Near East |
| Pre-Islamic Arabian deities |
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| Arabian deities of other Semitic origins |
In Classical Greek times, he was associated with Zeus because he was the chief of the Nabataean pantheon as well as with Dionysus.
A shrine to Dushara has been discovered in the harbour of ancient Puteoli in Italy. The city was an important nexus for trade to the Near East and it is known to have had a Nabataean presence during the mid first century BCE. [6] The cult continued in some capacity well into the Roman period and possibly as late as the Islamic period. [7]
This deity was mentioned by the ninth century CE Muslim historian Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi, who wrote in the Book of Idols (Kitab al-Asnām) that: "The Banū al-Hārith ibn-Yashkur ibn-Mubashshir of the ʻAzd had an idol called Dū Sharā".
Safaitic inscriptions mention animal sacrifices to Dushara, asking for a variety of services. [1]
Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia included indigenous Arabian polytheism, Buddhism, ancient Semitic religions, Christianity, Judaism, Mandaeism, and Zoroastrianism.
The Nabataeans or Nabateans were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu —gave the name Nabatene to the Arabian borderland that stretched from the Euphrates to the Red Sea.
Al-ʻUzzā was one of the three chief goddesses of Arabian religion in pre-Islamic times and she was worshipped by the pre-Islamic Arabs along with al-Lāt and Manāt. A stone cube at Nakhla was held sacred as part of her cult. She is mentioned in Qur'an 53:19 as being one of the goddesses who people worshipped.
In Arabian mythology, Hubal was a God worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia, notably by the Quraysh at the Kaaba in Mecca. The god's icon was a human figure believed to control acts of divination, which was performed by tossing arrows before the statue. The direction in which the arrows pointed answered questions asked to Hubal. The specific powers and identity attributed to Hubal are equally unclear.
al-Lat, also spelled Allat, Allatu, and Alilat, is a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess, at one time worshipped under various associations throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula, including Mecca, where she was worshipped alongside Al-Uzza and Manat as one of the daughters of Allah. The word Allat or Elat has been used to refer to various goddesses in the ancient Near East, including the goddess Asherah-Athirat. She also is associated with the Great Goddess.
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Hishām ibn al-Kalbī, 737 AD – 819 AD/204 AH, also known as Ibn al-Kalbi, was an Arab historian. His full name was Abu al-Mundhir Hisham ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sa'ib ibn Bishr al-Kalbi. Born in Kufa, he spent much of his life in Baghdad. Like his father, he collected information about the genealogies and history of the ancient Arabs.
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The Book of Idols, written by the Arab scholar Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (737–819), is the most popular of the Islamic-era works about the gods and rites of pre-Islamic Arab religions. The book portrays pre-Islamic Arabian religion as predominantly polytheistic and guilty of idol worship (idolatry) before the coming of Muhammad, including at the Kaaba, the pre-eminent shrine of Mecca. This, for Al-Kalbi, was a degraded state of religious practice since the pure monotheism that, in Islamic religion, was instituted by Abraham when the Kaaba was founded.
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The Nabataean religion was a form of Arab polytheism practiced in Nabataea, an ancient Arab nation which was well settled by the third century BCE and lasted until the Roman annexation in 106 CE. The Nabateans were polytheistic and worshipped a wide variety of local gods as well as Baalshamin, Isis, and Greco-Roman gods such as Tyche and Dionysus. They worshipped their gods at temples, high places, and betyls. They were mostly aniconic and preferred to decorate their sacred places with geometric designs. Much knowledge of the Nabataeans' grave goods has been lost due to extensive looting throughout history. They made sacrifices to their gods, performed other rituals and believed in an afterlife.
Nabataean Arabic was a predecessor of the Arabic alphabet. It evolved from Nabataean Aramaic, first entering use in the late third century AD. It continued to be used into the mid-fifth century, after which the script evolves into a new phase known as Paleo-Arabic.
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Khuzaymah ibn Mudrikah was one of the ancestors of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the Kinana and Banu Asad tribes. He was also the brother of Hudhayl, the progenitor of the Banu Hudhayl tribe.
Ka'abas also spelt Ka'bas are the plural term used to describe houses of worship mainly located in the Arabian Peninsula that are cubic in shape and resemble the Kaaba structure from Mecca. They are mainly dedicated to various gods from the Arabian pantheon, although the term has been used to describe some Christian churches built in a similar style in the Arabian Peninsula.
Dusares, etymologically probably 'the one of the Shara (mountains north of Petra)'
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