Allat
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Mentioned in the Qur'an (Sura 53:20), Allāt (a contraction of pre-Arabic *al-ilāhat "the Goddess") was a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. She is one of three goddesses that the pre-Islamic Meccans referred to as "Daughters of God" according to Qur'an Sura 53:19 along with ˤUzzā and Manāt. Her name also occurs in earlier Safaitic graffiti (Safaitic han-'Ilāt "the Goddess") and she was worshipped by the Nabataeans of Petra and the people of Hatra, who equated her with the Greek Athena & the Roman Minerva. According to Wellhausen, they believed Allāt was the mother of Hubal (and hence the mother-in-law of Manāt). The Greek historian Herodotus, writing in the 5th century B.C., considers her the equivalent of Aphrodite:"The Assyrians call Aphrodite Mylitta, the Arabians Alilat, and the Persians Mitra" (Histories I:131). According to Herodotus, the ancient Arabians believed in only two gods: "They believe in no other gods except Dionysus and the Heavenly Aphrodite; and they say that they wear their hair as Dionysus does his, cutting it round the head and shaving the temples. They call Dionysus, Orotalt; and Aphrodite, Alilat." (Histories III:38).
According to the Book of Idols (Kitab al-Asnām) by Hishām b. al-Kalbi, the pre-Islamic Arabs believed Allāt resided in the Ka'ba and also had a stone statue form in the sanctuary. B. al-Kalbi writes (N.A. Faris 1952, pp. 14-15):
- Her custody was in the hands of the Banū-Attāb ibn-Mālik of the Thaqīf, who had built an edifice over her. The Quraysh, as well as all the Arabs, were wont to venerate Allāt. They also used to name their children after her, calling them Zayd-Allāt and Taym-Allāt. [...] Allāt continued to be venerated until the Thaqīf embraced Islam, when the Apostle of God dispatched al-Mughīrah ibn-Shuˤbah, who destroyed her and burnt her temple to the ground.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Ibn al-Kalbī (Translation and Commentary by Nabih Amin Faris) (1952). Book of Idols, Being a Translation from the Arabic of the Kitāb al-Asnām. Princeton University Press. Library of Congress #52006741.
- Herodotus (Translated by David Grene) (1987). The History. Chicago University Press. ISBN 0-226-32770-1.
