Al-Lat

Al-Lat (Template:Langx, Template:IPA), 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. She was depicted as the feminine counterpart, consort, or daughter 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.Template:Sfn

The worship of al-Lat is attested in South Arabian inscriptions as Lat and Latan, but she had more prominence in north Arabia and the Hejaz, and her cult reached as far as Syria.Template:Sfn The writers of the Safaitic script frequently invoked al-Lat in their inscriptions. She was also worshipped by the Nabataeans and was associated with al-'Uzza. The presence of her cult was attested in both Palmyra and Hatra. Under Greco-Roman influence, her iconography began to show the attributes of Athena, the Greek goddess of war, as well as Athena's Roman equivalent Minerva. According to Islamic sources, the tribe of Banu Thaqif in Ta'if especially held reverence to her.

In Islamic tradition, her worship ended in the seventh century when her temple in Ta'if was demolished on the orders of Muhammad.

Etymology and name

The most likely and most accepted etymology takes al-Lat to be the feminine form of Allah. She may have been known originally as ʾal-ʾilat, based on Herodotus' attestation of the goddess as Alilat.Template:Sfn A folk etymology from Medieval Arab lexicographers derived the name from the verb latta (to mix or knead barley-meal). According to Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Ar-Rabi bin Anas, Al-Lat was a man who used to mix Sawiq (a kind of barley mash) with water for the pilgrims during the time of Jahiliyyah. When he died, the people remained next to his grave and worshiped him. It has also been associated with the "idol of jealousy" erected in the temple of Jerusalem according to the Book of Ezekiel, which was offered an oblation of barley-meal by the husband who suspected his wife of infidelity. It can be inferred from al-Kalbi's Book of Idols that a similar ritual was practiced in the vicinity of the image of al-Lat.

Al-Lat was used as a title for the goddess Asherah or Athirat.Template:Sfn The word is akin to Elat, which was the name of the wife of the Semitic deity El.Template:Sfn A western Semitic goddess modeled on the Mesopotamian goddess Ereshkigal was known as Allatum, and she was recognized in Carthage as Allatu.Template:Sfn

The goddess Allat's name is recorded as:Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

• Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration) in Imperial Aramaic;
• Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration) in Nabataean Arabic;
• Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration) in Palmyrene Aramaic;
• Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration), Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration), and Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration) in Safaitic;
• Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration) in Dadanitic;
• Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration) in Thamudic;
• Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration) in Ancient Greek;
• Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration) and Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration) in Sabaean;
• Template:Lang Template:Transliteration in Classical Arabic.

Attestations

Pre-Islamic era

Al-Lat was mentioned as Alilat by the Greek historian Herodotus in his fifth-century BC work Histories, and she was considered the equivalent of Aphrodite (Aphrodite Urania):Template:Blockquote According to Herodotus, the ancient Arabians believed in only two deities:

Al-Lat was widely worshipped in north Arabia, but in South Arabia she was not popular and was not the object of an organized cult, with two amulets (inscribed "Lat" on one, "Latan" on the other) being the only indication that this goddess received worship in the area. However, she seems to have been popular among the Arab tribes bordering Yemen. She was also attested in eastern Arabia; the name Taymallat (a theophoric name invoking the goddess)Template:Sfn was attested as the name of a man from Gerrha, a city located in the region.Template:Sfn

From Safaitic and Hismaic inscriptions, it is probable that she was worshipped as Lat (lt).Template:Sfn In Safaitic inscriptions, al-Lat was invoked for solitude and mercy, as well as to provide well-being, ease and prosperity.Template:Sfn Travelers would invoke her for good weather and protection.Template:Sfn She was also invoked for vengeance, booty from raids, and infliction of blindness, and lameness to anyone who defaces their inscriptions.Template:Sfn

The Qedarites, a northern Arabian tribal confederation, seemed to have also worshipped al-Lat, as evidenced by a silver bowl dedicated by a Qedarite king, with the goddess' name inscribed on it.Template:Sfn

The Nabataeans and the people of Hatra also worshipped al-Lat, equating her with the Greek goddesses Athena and Tyche and the Roman goddess Minerva.Template:Sfn She is frequently called "the Great Goddess" in Greek in multilingual inscriptions.Template:Sfn The Nabataeans regarded al-Lat as the mother of the deities, and her family relations vary; sometimes she is regarded as the consort of Dushara and at other times as the mother of Dushara.Template:Sfn Nabataean inscriptions call her and al-'Uzza the "brides of Dushara".

File:Palmyra,Al-Lat T.jpg

Remains of the temple of al-Lat, Palmyra, Syria

A temple was built for al-Lat in Iram of the Pillars, by the tribe of ʿĀd.Template:Sfn Al-Lat was referred to as "the goddess who is in Iram" in a Nabataean inscription.Template:Sfn She was also referred to as "the goddess who is in Bosra".Template:Sfn Perhaps a local Hijazi form of her attested in Hegra alongside Dushara and Manat was "Allat of 'Amnad".Template:Sfn

Al-Lat was closely related to al-'Uzza, and in some regions of the Nabataean kingdom, both al-Lat and al-'Uzza were said to be the same goddess.Template:Sfn John F. Healey believes that al-Lat and al-'Uzza originated as a single goddess, which parted ways in the pre-Islamic Meccan tradition.Template:Sfn Susan Krone suggests that both al-Lat and al-'Uzza were uniquely fused in central Arabia.Template:Sfn

File:Statue of an enthroned Arabian goddess or idol, probably Al-Lat (also Allat, Allatu, and Alilat), from Hatra, Iraq. 2nd to 3rd century CE. Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq.jpg

Statue of an enthroned Arabian goddess or idol, probably Al-Lat, from Hatra, Iraq. second to third century CE. Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq

Al-Lat was also venerated in Palmyra, where she was known as the "Lady of the temple".Template:Sfn According to an inscription, she was brought into the Arab quarter of the city by a member of the Bene Ma'zin tribe,Template:Sfn who were probably an Arab tribe.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn She had a temple in the city, which Teixidor believed to be the cultic center of Palmyrene Arab tribes.Template:Sfn The practice of casting divination arrows, a common divination method in Arabia, was attested in her temple; an honorific inscription mentioning "a basin of silver for [casting] lots (lḥlq)".Template:Sfn

By the second-century AD, al-Lat in Palmyra began to be portrayed in the style of Athena, and was referred to as "Athena-Allāt", but this assimilation does not extend beyond her iconography.Template:Sfn The Palmyrene emperor Vaballathus, whose name is the Latinized form of the theophoric name Wahballāt ("Gift of al-Lat"), began to use Athenodorus as the Greek form of his name.Template:Sfn

Islamic tradition

In Islamic sources discussing pre-Islamic Arabia, al-Lat is attested as the chief goddess of the Banu Thaqif tribe.Template:Sfn She was said to be venerated in Ta'if, where she was called ar-Rabba ("The Lady"),Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn and she reportedly had a shrine there that was decorated with ornaments and treasure of gold and onyx.Template:Sfn There, the goddess was venerated in the form of a cubic granite rock.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The area around the shrine was considered sacred; no trees could be felled, no animal could be hunted, and no human blood could be shed.Template:Sfn

According to al-Kalbi's Book of Idols, her shrine was under the guardianship of the Banū Attāb ibn Mālik of the Banu Thaqif.Template:Sfn She was also venerated by other Arab tribes, including the Quraysh, and their children would be named after the goddess, such as Zayd al-Lat and Taym al-Lat.Template:Sfn

Al-Lat is also mentioned in pre-Islamic Arab poetry, such as in al-Mutalammis' satire of Amr ibn Hind:Template:Sfn

File:Relief of the Arabian goddess Al-Lat, Manat and al-Uzza from Hatra. Iraq Museum.jpg

Relief of the Arabian goddesses Al-Lat, Manat, and al-Uzza from Hatra, second century AD. Iraq Museum

A poem by the pre-Islamic monotheist Zayd ibn Amr mentions al-Lat, along with al-'Uzza and Hubal:Template:Sfn

Template:BlockquoteAl-Lat was also called as a daughter of Allah along with the other two chief goddesses al-'Uzza and Manat.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn According to the Book of Idols, the Quraysh were to chant the following verses as they circumambulated the Kaaba:Template:Sfn Template:Blockquote The word gharaniq was translated as "most exalted females" by Faris in his English translation of the Book of Idols, but he annotates this term in a footnote as "lit. Numidean cranes".Template:Sfn

According to Islamic tradition, the shrine dedicated to al-Lat in Ta'if was demolished on the orders of Muhammad, during the Expedition of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, in the same year as the Battle of TabukTemplate:Sfn (which occurred in October 630 AD).Template:Sfn The destruction of the cult image was a demand by Muhammad before he would allow any reconciliation to take place with the tribes of Ta'if, who were under his siege.Template:Sfn According to the Book of Idols, this occurred after the Banu Thaqif converted to Islam, and that her temple was "burnt to the ground".Template:Sfn

In the al-Tabari's history the name of the Goodess is used by Abu Bakr. When Urwah ibn Masʽud indirectly insulted him by saying that Mohammeds Companions might desert him in the face of danger, he in turn to insulted him by saying "Go suck the clitoris of al-Lat! Would we flee and leave him?", with clitoris sometimes translated as nipples. It is based on the proverb to suck someones mothers clitoris, also found in other sources of the time.

Quran and Satanic Verses incident

In the Quran, she is mentioned along with al-‘Uzza and Manat in Quran 53:19–22, which became the subject of the alleged Satanic Verses incident,Template:Sfn an occasion on which the Islamic prophet Muhammad had mistaken the words of "satanic suggestion" for divine revelation. Many different versions of the story existed (all traceable to one single narrator Muhammad ibn Ka'b, who was two generations removed from biographer Ibn Ishaq).Template:Sfn In its essential form, the story reports that during Muhammad's recitation of Surat An-Najm, when he reached the following verses: Template:Blockquote Satan tempted him to utter the following line:Template:Sfn Template:BlockquoteFollowing this, the angel Gabriel chastised Muhammad for uttering that line, and the verses were abrogated with a new revelation:Template:Sfn Template:Blockquote The majority of Muslim scholars have rejected the historicity of the incident on the basis of the theological doctrine of 'isma (prophetic infallibility i.e., divine protection of Muhammad from mistakes) and their weak isnads (chains of transmission). Due to its defective chain of narration, the tradition of the Satanic Verses never made it into any of the canonical hadith compilations,Template:Sfn though reference and exegesis about the Verses appear in early histories, such as al-Tabari's Tārīkh ar-Rusul wal-Mulūk and Ibn Ishaq's Sīrat Rasūl Allāh (as reconstructed by Alfred Guillaume).Template:Sfn

The "Grinder" legend

Various legends about her origins were known in medieval Islamic tradition, including one that linked al-Lat's stone with a man who grinds cereal (al-latt, "the grinder").Template:Sfn The stone was used as a base for the man (a Jew) to grind cereal for the pilgrims of Mecca.Template:Sfn While most versions of this legend place the man at Ta'if, other versions place him at either Mecca or 'Ukaz.Template:Sfn After the man's death, the stone, or the man in the form of a stone, was deified,Template:Sfn according to some legends after the Khuza'a drove the Jurhum out of Mecca, while other legends report it was Amr ibn Luhayy who deified the grinder.Template:Sfn

Michael Cook noticed the oddity of this story, as it would make al-Lat masculine.Template:Sfn Gerald Hawting believes the various legends that link al-Lat with that of al-latt, "the grinder", was an attempt to relate al-Lat with Mecca.Template:Sfn He also compared the legends to Isaf and Na'ila, who according to legend were a man and a woman who fornicated inside the Kaaba and were petrified.Template:Sfn These two stones representing the primordial couple (sic Adam & Eve the so called ancestors of the human race) most likely pre-existed this cautionary tale promulgated by Islam. Furthermore, Isaf and Na'ila played a central role in the Quraish and al-Khuza'a's ritual practice of hierogamy or 'sacred marriage' culminating in a communal wedding feast 'walima'. This joyful event took place every year during the mid-winter month of Dhu'l Hijjah on and around Mt. Arafat until the pair of baetyls were finally removed and placed at Jabal as-Safa'a and Jabal al-Marwah in Mecca.

Mythological role

F. V. Winnet saw al-Lat as a lunar deity due to association of a crescent with her in 'Ayn esh-Shallāleh and a Lihyanite inscription mentioning the name of Wadd over the title of 'fkl lt.Template:Sfn René Dussaud and Gonzague Ryckmans linked her with Venus, while others have thought her to be a solar deity.Template:Sfn John F. Healey considers al-Uzza might have been an epithet of al-Lat before becoming a separate deity in the Meccan pantheon.Template:Sfn Redefining Dionysos considers she might have been a deity of vegetation or a celestial deity of atmospheric phenomena and a sky deity. According to Wellhausen, the Nabataeans believed al-Lat was the mother of Hubal (and hence the mother-in-law of Manāt).

It has been hypothesized that Allah was the consort of al-Lat, given that it is typical of deities in that area of the world to have consorts.Template:Sfn

Iconography

In Ta'if, al-Lat's primary cult image was a cubic stone,Template:Sfn sometimes described as white in color.Template:Sfn Waqidi's mention of the 'head' (ra's) of ar-Rabba may imply that the image was perceived in human or animal form, although Julius Wellhausen resisted this implication.Template:Sfn

File:Lion in the garden of Palmyra Archeological Museum, 2010-04-21.jpg

The Lion of Al-Lat, representing the goddess and her consort.

Early Palmyrene depictions of al-Lat share iconographical traits with Atargatis (when seated) and Astarte (when standing).Template:Sfn The Lion of Al-Lat that once adorned her temple depicts a lion and a gazelle, the lion representing her consort,Template:Sfn and the gazelle representing al-Lat's tender and loving traits, as bloodshed was not permitted under penalty of al-Lat's retaliation.Template:Sfn

Al-Lat was associated with the Greek goddess Athena (and by extension, the Roman Minerva) in Nabataea, Hatra, and Palmyra.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn It seems that her identification with Athena was only a mere change in iconography,Template:Sfn and al-Lat's character noticeably softened the warlike Athena in places where she was equated with al-Lat.Template:Sfn One Nabataean relief of Athena-al-Lat depicts the goddess bearing both Athena and al-Lat's attributes.Template:Sfn The relief depicts the goddess in the style of Athena, but having a Nabataean religion stylized eye-betyl in place of the Gorgoneion.Template:Sfn

Al-Lat can also be identified with the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, with both of the deities taking part in prosperity, warfare, and later being linked to Aphrodite and Athena. The two's similarities also appeared in their symbols, as both were associated with lions, morning star, and crescents. Like Al-Lat, Ishtar's origin was of Semitic roots.

Modern relevance

The Lion of Al-Lat statue that adorned her temple in Palmyra was damaged by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2015 but has been since restored.Template:Sfn It now stands in the National Museum of Damascus, but it may be returned to Palmyra in the future.Template:Sfn

See also

• Asherah
• Banu Thaqif
• Hubal
• List of pre-Islamic Arabian deities
• Manāt
• Satanic Verses

References

General and cited sources

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External links

• Herodotus, The Histories, Book 1, chapter 131. www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
• Herodotus, The Histories, Book 3, chapter 8. www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
• Lat, al- - Oxford Islamic Studies Online. www.oxfordislamicstudies.com. Retrieved 2019-01-26.