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Dushara, (
Nabataean Arabic Nabataean Arabic was the dialect of Arabic spoken by the Nabataeans in antiquity. In the 1st century AD, the Nabataeans wrote their inscriptions, such as the legal texts carved on the façades of the monumental tombs at Mada'in Salih, ancient Ḥ ...
: 𐢅𐢈𐢝𐢛𐢀‎ ''dwšrʾ'') also transliterated as Dusares, is a pre-Islamic Arabian
god In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
worshipped by the
Nabataeans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic language, Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabian Pe ...
at
Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...
and
Madain Saleh Hegra ( grc, Ἕγρα), known to Muslims as Al-Hijr (), also known as Mada’in Salih ( ar, مَدَائِن صَالِح, madāʼin Ṣāliḥ, lit=Cities of Salih), is an archaeological site located in the area of Al-'Ula within Medina Provin ...
(of which city he was the patron).
Safaitic Safaitic ( ''Al-Ṣafāʾiyyah'') is a variety of the South Semitic scripts used by the nomads of the basalt desert of southern Syria and northern Jordan, the so-called Ḥarrah, to carve rock inscriptions in various dialects of Old Arabic and A ...
inscriptions imply he was the son of
Al-Lat Al-Lat ( ar, اللات, translit=Al-Lāt, ), also spelled Allat, Allatu and Alilat, is a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess worshipped under various associations throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula, including Mecca where she was worshipped alon ...
, and that he assembled in the heavens with other gods. He is called "Dushara from
Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...
" in one inscription. Dushara was expected to bring justice if called by the correct ritual.


Etymology

Dushara is known first from epigraphic Nabataean sources who invariably spell the name ''dwsrʾ'', the
Nabataean script The Nabataean script is an abjad (consonantal alphabet) that was used to write Nabataean Aramaic and Nabataean Arabic from the second century BC onwards.Ibn al-Kalbi Hishām ibn al-Kalbī ( ar, هشام بن الكلبي), 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 ...
in his "
Book of Idols __NOTOC__The ''Book of Idols'' ('), written by the Arab scholar Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (737–819), describes gods and rites of pre-Islamic Arab religions. The text is critical of pre-Islamic Arabian religion and decries the state of religious corrup ...
" explains the name as ''Dhū l-Šarā'' ( ar, ذو الشرى), meaning likely "The One from Shara", Shara being a mountain range south-east of the
Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...
. 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.


Worship

In Greek times, he was
associated Associated may refer to: *Associated, former name of Avon, Contra Costa County, California * Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto, a school in Canada *Associated Newspapers, former name of DMG Media, a British publishing company See also *Associati ...
with
Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
because he was the chief of the Nabataean pantheon as well as with
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
. 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 1st century BCE. The cult continued in some capacity well into the Roman period and possibly as late as the Islamic period.Peterson, Stephanie Bowers, "The Cult of Dushara and the Roman Annexation of Nabataea" (2006). Open Access Dissertations and Theses. Paper 5352. This deity was mentioned by the 9th century CE Muslim historian
Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi Hishām ibn al-Kalbī ( ar, هشام بن الكلبي), 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 ...
, 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 Safaitic ( ''Al-Ṣafāʾiyyah'') is a variety of the South Semitic scripts used by the nomads of the basalt desert of southern Syria and northern Jordan, the so-called Ḥarrah, to carve rock inscriptions in various dialects of Old Arabic and A ...
inscriptions mention animal sacrifices to Dushara, asking for a variety of services.


See also

*
Book of Idols __NOTOC__The ''Book of Idols'' ('), written by the Arab scholar Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (737–819), describes gods and rites of pre-Islamic Arab religions. The text is critical of pre-Islamic Arabian religion and decries the state of religious corrup ...
*
Khaabou According to the early Christian bishop Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 315–403), Chaabou or Kaabu (Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢏𐢁𐢃𐢈 ''kʾbw'') was a goddess in the Nabataean pantheon—a virgin who gave birth to the god Dusares. However, few modern ...
* Shara


References


Bibliography

* Ibn al-Kalbī, ''The Book of Idols, Being a Translation from the Arabic of the Kitāb al-Asnām''. Tr. and comm. Nabih Amin Faris (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1952). * Healey, John F., ''The Religion of the Nabataeans: A Conspectus'' (Leiden, Brill, 2001) (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World, 136). * el-Khouri, Lamia; Johnson, David, "A New Nabataean Inscription from Wadi Mataha, Petra," ''Palestine Exploration Quarterly'', 137,2 (2005), 169–174.


External links


Nabataean religion
in the original Arabic (description on p. 5)
"Solving the Enigma of Petra and the Nabataeans"
Biblical Archaeology Review Nabataea Arabian gods Al-Lat {{MEast-myth-stub