Matriarchal paganism: the three mother goddesses of pre-Islamic Arabia, Al-Uzza, and Manat Allat

Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (737-819) is an Arab historian, compiler of the oral traditions of the Bedouins and professional storytellers. Among his works still exist there is the Kitab al-Asnam (Arabic: al-kitāb Asnam األصنام كتاب book idols) in which he talks about the Arab idols of the pre-Islamic period. The interest of this book is enhanced by the information it provides on the Arab and ancient tribal customs and traditions that would otherwise be lost without doubt.The ancient religion of Arab

Across regions and eras, the Arabs worshiped hundreds of different deities. The goddesses Al-Uzza, al-Lat and

Manat formed a trinity in pre-Islamic Arabia. Their worship was widespread: the Nabatean Petra in the North, the legendary kingdoms of Arabia Felix in the South, including Saba, the biblical Sheba (Saba queen) into the east, and Iran Palmyra. They were popular goddesses in Mecca in Mohammed's time.All three have been venerated as aniconic stones (non-figurative) uncut, called the baetyls . The "idols" of al-Lat and Al Uzza were 2 360 pagan statues (1 per day) of the Ka 'aba that were destroyed by Mohammed. Some idols are mentioned in the Qur'an of Yemeni imports, their evocation is rather vague because Yemen at the time of Muhammad, was for several centuries Judaised then Christianized.

Al-`Uzzâ  (العزى [al-`uzzā],  the all-powerful ): The goddess of the morning star. Pre-Islamic idol related to Venus / Aphrodite and personalized by a long granite block about six meters.

Al-Lat  (الالت [al-LLAT], al-Lat,  the goddess ): sun goddess represented by a huge image of gray granite. Herodotus (484-420 BC) indicates the presence of an Arab deity named Alilat (+ ال اإللهة [al + ilaha → al-ilaha], the goddess alilat).

Manat  (مناة [Mana]): Goddess of the waning moon, a symbol of fate and time of death (منية [Maniya] destiny, fate, death). Pre-Islamic deity of fate, which cut the thread of fate in the image of  Morta  third Parque.

Dusares, the god-son

Dusares at the time was the main male god with his feminine trinity: Uzza, and Manat Allat. Dusares would be the son of Manat, the goddess of fate, or the Virgin Chaamou  (pronounced  Kaamou ), no doubt a transcription error for  Kaabou , the Cube (shape of the sacred stone, divine sacred stone, or the shape of the sanctuary).

Recall also that the gods born of a virgin are typical matriarchal cults (fatherless society nor husband, but not without uncles):  virgin  being synonymous with unmarried, and a child born of a virgin being a fatherless child .

Allat, a popular goddess

Allat (Arabic:  الالت, e Hebrew n: Elat )  was a goddess of fertility and femininity in Saudi venerated in pre-Islamic times. His name is a contraction of al ilahat goddess. She had her statue in the Kaaba where she was supposed to reside. An inscription on a rock Adumattu Saudi said: " May Allat (the Goddess) exhausser all our wishes."  The ancient Arabs were sworn in prayer:  "In the salt, fire and Al-Lat which is the most all great. "  Another inscription says:  " Shalm-Allat " ,   " Peace Goddess "  - similar to   " God's peace upon you " . A blessing hand gesture accompanied these words. Before the advent of Islam, one can find the name of some compounds in Allat names like  Wahaballat (Wahab - Allat - وهب )  that is to say,   "the gift of Allat"and  Shalamallat ,(الآلت الآلت شلم ) which means  "peace of Allat -  الآلت سالم  "  .More than 2000 years before Islam

She was worshiped in Mecca for more than 2000 years before Islam. The famous Islamic shrines in Mecca was originally his sanctuary. Allat simply means  "Goddess"  as Allah means  "the God" . The final T is feminine. Al-Lat, whose name is a contraction of al-Illahat,  "the Goddess"  , is mentioned by Herodotus (fifth century. BC-AD) as  Alilat , he identifies with Aphrodite. It is also sometimes equated with Athena and is called  "the Mother of the Gods"  , or  "The Greatest of All"  . She is a goddess of spring and fertility, the earth goddess who brings prosperity.A cosmic goddess

Arab goddess Allat prominently in the Syro-Mesopotamian pantheon of the first centuries of our era.Identified in the context of syncretism, to Athena, she took martial paces. Identified Nemesis, it acquires a cosmic dimension based, inter alia, on the Babylonian astronomical tradition. The complex iconography of the reliefs of the

temple of Allat at Hatra, near the palmyréen art, symbolizes this elevation to cosmic deity.A lunar and agricultural goddess

Its symbol is the crescent moon (sometimes shown with a sun disk resting in). The sun in Saudi was called  Shams , was considered feminine, and could represent an aspect of Al-Lat.Les Islamic nations still use the star and crescent on their flags. As goddess of fertility, she carries a sheaf of wheat in one hand; and a piece of incense sap in the other. Its emblem was found engraved on many censers. It is an agricultural goddess like other Mediterranean goddesses (eg Demeter) and loved having cakes grain offering baked in the oven.The Protecting wildlife

The goddess is sometimes shown seated on his throne, wearing a veil on her head and wearing a loose tunic; she holds in her left hand a palm resting on her left shoulder. The lion sitting next to her says he is a mistress goddess of wild animals; an isolated inscription likens the goddess Artemis, protector of wild animals among the Greeks (see below, left, Palmyra). Lions Allat are statues found during excavations of the Temple of Allat in Palmyra, they represent a lion holding between his legs antelope;the lion is probably the protective goddess Allat wildlife identified by antelope.A sanctuary of peace destroyed by Muslims

She had a sanctuary in the city of Ta'if (الطائف) east of Mecca, and was known from Arabia to Iran. She was the chief deity, and was represented as a cubic stone (meteor or volcanic rock) around which a shrine was built,  "The house of the goddess." It was forbidden to cut trees, hunt and kill; and the one who took refuge there should not be attacked. All the Arabs, including the Bani Quraysh tribe (that of Mohamed), worshiped the goddess and made pilgrimages to his shrine. After the capture of the town of al-Taif by the Muslims, the Prophet Muhammad ordered Ibn al-Mughira Shu'bah ( شعبة بن المغيرة ) to destroy the sanctuary and statue Allat (صنم) and recover the wealth that were offered.Khamsa - The Hand of Fatima - The Hand of Miriam

Allat has a famous hand, many people of the Middle East are today as talisman lucky charm, not knowing that it is the hand of their ancient goddess:  the goddess  Allat  for Muslims, and the goddess  Elat  for

Jews . As many Jews as Muslims use it. Muslims now call the  Hand of Fatima .Fatima is another name of the goddess Arabic. Jews call it the  Hand of Miriam , but the use of the protective hand of the Goddess is the same: to drive the evil eye. The eye amulet on "turns" to the source of the curse.Rejected by the Sunnis, it is very important contrast among Shiites. Fatima was another name for Al-Lat. It is also called the  Creator , the Source of the Sun and the Tree of Paradise ,  the Tree of Life . It is said that Fatima has existed from the beginning of the material world. Mohammed called his daughter Fatima as the goddess, but her worship was still violently repressed by Muslims.Uzza, the warrior goddessAl Uzza, al-Uzza, al-Ozza, Uzza, Izza. Also called: Uzza Saida ( "Uzza blessed") or if ida ( "blessed").

Mentioned in the Koran, 'Uzzā or Uzza (Arabic:  عزى )  was a pre-Islamic Arab fertility goddess,  one of the three most revered deities of Mecca with Allat and Manat. She was very popular: the children were above named  Abd al-'Uzzā  (first very focused before Islam) and often invoked in oaths. The name was'Uzzā symbol of beauty in the pre-Islamic Arabic poetry. Nicknamed the warrior "virgin" (not married), she is the youngest in the triad of goddesses; Al Lat; and Mana. Manat and Al-Lat are considered daughters al-Uzza.A tribal deity of power

Al-Uzza,  "the most powerful" , was one of the most revered deities by the Arabs.  Uzzi , in Hebrew also means   "powerful" , hence the name of the factory of the famous Israeli machine guns. Originally, the Sabeans ( Kingdom of Bilqis, Queen of Sheba, in the current Yemen ), revered Al-Uzza whose cult has spread throughout Arabia. It was very popular in all the Middle East, including  Jerusalem . She was the goddess of many Arab tribes and kingdoms of northern Arabia, Syria and Iraq, as was the case in Palmyra and in the kingdom of Manadhziah.She was the goddess of the morning star and the evening Venus. She had a temple at Petra (although it was not determined), and may well have been the patron goddess of the city.

Many assimilation among GreekThe Greeks equated to  Urania , the "Heavenly Aphrodite"  (  "Celeste" , an epithet of Aphrodite, as well as the name of a muse) and  Caelistis , a lunar goddess, the Roman name for the goddess Carthaginian  Tanit . Al-Uzza is also sometimes identified with  Isis .Other sources equate to  Minerva  /  Athena , which would make her a virgin goddess (unmarried) warrior. Herodotus says that the supreme goddess of the Arabs was Urania, who said he was called Alilat (Al-Lat). Indeed Al-Uzza was sometimes confused with Al-Lat, leading some researchers to wonder if Al-Lat and Al-Uzza were not different regional names for the same goddess.

An avatar of Ishtar

It has much in common with Ishtar and Astarte, also goddesses of morning and evening Star. They are all goddesses of love and war, and big cats were sacred for them too. It is shown as an army bellatrix (Roman warrior), standing near an acacia tree with a Caracal, or desert lynx. Ashtar (Ashtar - عشتار عشتر Syria and Mesopotamia), it is a female deity ensuring the reproduction in animals, in fact, this planet is known as the   "morning star -   الصباح نجم   "   and   " the evening star -   المساء نجم   "   is visible in the sky for two periods of the year. During the first period, it appears as a very bright star in the east before sunrise, and during the second period, it is visible in the west after sunset. Precisely, these periods correspond to the natural cycle of reproduction in many animals, hence the name of the   "planet of love, fertility and beauty"  Aphrodite of the Greeks, the Romans Venus, and as   "al-'Uzza

Arabs. Al-Uzza was the goddess who symbolized the winter season as   "  العزى  -Allat who was the goddess of the summer.The Meccans, son of Uzza

Al-Uzza embodies the confidence, alertness and preparedness. She is very protective, and is an important ally in the battles. She was honored by Koreishites (the tribe of Muhammad) as one of their most important goddesses. They said "son of Uzza" and implored her protection in battles. The Arabs moved the stones that embodied the deities to erect amid the battlefields, because they believed that their presence among the fighters protected them and gave them the courage and the help needed to bring victory and defeat them their enemies. According to Arab historians, Bani (the tribe) Quraish, had moved the stones of Allat and Al-Uzza in the battle of Uhud  "   أحد وقعة  "  , against the young Islamic army led by the Prophet Muhammad.His sanctuary destroyed by Muslims

Al-Uzza was his sanctuary Nakhlah in a palm valley, on the road from Mecca to Iraq. There were three acacia trees on which it was said that she was staying.Some scholars believe that it even may have been the tutelary deity of Mecca. In the year 8 AH, after the capture of Mecca by Muslims, the Prophet Muhammad told Khalid Ibn al-Walid ( الوليد بن خالد ) mission to destroy the statue of the goddess, demolish the sanctuary and cut his tree.Manat, the old goddess of fate and deathIt is the oldest deity among the Arabs; its widespread cult could precede those of Al-Uzza and Al-Lat. This is a female deity, represented by a non carved black stone, located at the edge of the Red Sea to Qadid (قديد), in an area between Medina and Mecca. The term Manat (مناة) Manawayat or Menata is derived from the Arabic words al-muna (المنى) and al-manyyah (المنية), that is to say the "death - الموت", "fate - القدر "ruin and destruction. Manat was also among the Arab goddess of justice (العدالة) and equity (االنصاف). St. Epiphanes 4th century called The Mother of Dusares, the local mountain god, calling him by his title or Chaamu Chalmous, which means "young girl or virgin".

Al Manat was associated with Nemesis pre-Olympian goddess of vengeance, itself linked to Cybele, Artemis and Demeter.It is known from the Nabatean inscriptions of the graves were placed under its protection, asking him to curse the Snatchers. It is mentioned in poetry, bringing the dead to their graves, seeking their cutting death. It is represented by an old woman with a cup, and symbols at the bottom of her dress spell his name in the Sabaean language (which does not use vowels and is written from right to left), NCDs. The waning moon on his head is a symbol of death. His worship ceased in the year 8 AH when the Prophet Muhammad entrusted Aly Ibn Abi Talib ( طالب أبي بن علي ) mission to destroy his statue (صنم).