| al-Lat | |
|---|---|
Goddess of war, peace, combat, and prosperity | |
 Al-Lāt with a palm branch and her lion from theTemple of Baalshamin inPalmyra, first century AD,Damascus,Syria | |
| Major cult center | Palmyra, Iram,[1]Ta'if (according to Islamic sources) |
| Symbol | Lion, gazelle, crescent, cubic rock |
| Region | Arabia |
| Genealogy | |
| Siblings | Al-Uzza,Manat |
| Consort |
|
| Children | Dushara (Nabataean tradition) |
| Equivalents | |
| Greek | Athena |
| Roman | Minerva |
| Canaanite | Astarte,Atargatis |
| Carthaginian | Allatu |
| Part of themyth series on Religions of the ancient Near East |
| Pre-Islamic Arabian deities |
|---|
| Arabian deities of other Semitic origins |
Al-Lat (Arabic:اللات,romanized: al-Lāt,pronounced[alːaːt]), also spelledAllat,Allatu, andAlilat, is apre-Islamic Arabiangoddess, at one time worshipped under various associations throughout the entireArabian Peninsula, includingMecca, where she was worshipped alongsideAl-Uzza andManat as one of the daughters ofAllah. The wordAllat orElat has been used to refer to various goddesses in theancient Near East, including the goddessAsherah-Athirat. She also is associated with theGreat Goddess.[3]
The worship of al-Lat is attested inSouth Arabian inscriptions asLat andLatan, but she had more prominence in north Arabia and theHejaz, and her cult reached as far asSyria.[4] The writers of theSafaitic script frequently invoked al-Lat in their inscriptions. She was also worshipped by theNabataeans and was associated withal-'Uzza. The presence of her cult was attested in bothPalmyra andHatra. UnderGreco-Roman influence, her iconography began to show the attributes ofAthena, theGreek goddess of war, as well as Athena's Roman equivalentMinerva. According to Islamic sources, the tribe ofBanu Thaqif inTa'if especially held reverence to her.
InIslamic tradition, her worship ended in the seventh century when her temple in Ta'if was demolished on the orders ofMuhammad.[5]
There are two possible etymologies of the nameal-Lat.[6] Medieval Arab lexicographers derived the name from the verblatta (to mix or knead barley-meal). It has also been associated with the "idol of jealousy" erected in the temple of Jerusalem according to theBook of Ezekiel, which was offered an oblation of barley-meal by the husband who suspected his wife of infidelity. It can be inferred fromal-Kalbi'sBook of Idols that a similar ritual was practiced in the vicinity of the image of al-Lat.[6] The second proposed etymology takes al-Lat to be the feminine form ofAllah.[6] She may have been known originally asʾal-ʾilat, based on Herodotus' attestation of the goddess asAlilat.[7]
Al-Lat was used as a title for the goddessAsherah orAthirat.[8] The word is akin toElat, which was the name of the wife of the Semitic deityEl.[9] A western Semitic goddess modeled on the Mesopotamian goddessEreshkigal was known asAllatum, and she was recognized inCarthage asAllatu.[10]
The goddess Allat's name is recorded as:[11][12]
Al-Lat was mentioned asAlilat by the Greek historianHerodotus in his fifth-century BC workHistories, and she was considered the equivalent ofAphrodite (Aphrodite Urania):[13]
TheAssyrians call AphroditeMylitta, theArabiansAlilat [Greek spelling: Ἀλιλάτ], and thePersiansMithra.[14]
According to Herodotus, the ancient Arabians believed in only two deities:
They believe in no other gods exceptDionysus 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; andAphrodite,Alilat.[15]
Al-Lat was widely worshipped in north Arabia, but inSouth Arabia she was not popular and was not the object of an organized cult, with twoamulets (inscribed "Lat" on one, "Latan" on the other) being the only indication that this goddess received worship in the area.[16] However, she seems to have been popular among theArab tribes borderingYemen.[16] She was also attested ineastern Arabia; the nameTaymallat (a theophoric name invoking the goddess)[17] was attested as the name of a man fromGerrha, a city located in the region.[18]
FromSafaitic andHismaic inscriptions, it is probable that she was worshipped as Lat (lt).[4] InSafaitic inscriptions, al-Lat was invoked for solitude and mercy, as well as to provide well-being, ease and prosperity.[19] Travelers would invoke her for good weather and protection.[19] She was also invoked for vengeance, booty from raids, and infliction of blindness, and lameness to anyone who defaces their inscriptions.[19]
TheQedarites, 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.[20]
TheNabataeans and the people ofHatra also worshipped al-Lat, equating her with the Greek goddessesAthena andTyche and the Roman goddessMinerva.[3] She is frequently called "the Great Goddess" in Greek in multilingual inscriptions.[3] The Nabataeans regarded al-Lat as the mother of the deities, and her family relations vary; sometimes she is regarded as the consort ofDushara and at other times as the mother of Dushara.[4]Nabataean inscriptions call her andal-'Uzza the "brides ofDushara".[21]
A temple was built for al-Lat inIram of the Pillars, by the tribe ofʿĀd.[22] Al-Lat was referred to as "the goddess who is in Iram" in aNabataean inscription.[1] She was also referred to as "the goddess who is inBosra".[1] Perhaps a local Hijazi form of her attested inHegra alongsideDushara andManat was "Allat of 'Amnad".[1]
Al-Lat was closely related toal-'Uzza, and in some regions of theNabataean kingdom, both al-Lat and al-'Uzza were said to be the same goddess.[4] John F. Healey believes that al-Lat and al-'Uzza originated as a single goddess, which parted ways in thepre-Islamic Meccan tradition.[4] Susan Krone suggests that both al-Lat andal-'Uzza were uniquely fused in central Arabia.[23]
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Al-Lat was also venerated inPalmyra, where she was known as the "Lady of the temple".[24] According to an inscription, she was brought into the Arab quarter of the city by a member of theBene Ma'zin tribe,[25] who were probably an Arab tribe.[26][a] She had atemple in the city, which Teixidor believed to be the cultic center of Palmyrene Arab tribes.[24] The practice of castingdivination arrows, a common divination method inArabia, was attested in her temple; an honorific inscription mentioning "a basin of silver for [casting] lots (lḥlq)".[28]
By the second-century AD, al-Lat in Palmyra began to be portrayed in the style ofAthena, and was referred to as "Athena-Allāt", but this assimilation does not extend beyond her iconography.[29] The Palmyrene emperorVaballathus, whose name is the Latinized form of the theophoric nameWahballāt ("Gift of al-Lat"), began to useAthenodorus as the Greek form of his name.[30]
In Islamic sources discussingpre-Islamic Arabia, al-Lat is attested as the chief goddess of theBanu Thaqif tribe.[31] She was said to be venerated inTa'if, where she was calledar-Rabba ("The Lady"),[32][33] and she reportedly had a shrine there that was decorated with ornaments and treasure ofgold andonyx.[34] There, the goddess was venerated in the form of a cubic granite rock.[31][10] 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.[35]
According toal-Kalbi'sBook of Idols, her shrine was under the guardianship of the Banū Attāb ibn Mālik of theBanu Thaqif.[17] She was also venerated by otherArab tribes, including theQuraysh, and their children would be named after the goddess, such asZayd al-Lat andTaym al-Lat.[17]
Al-Lat is also mentioned in pre-Islamic Arab poetry, such as inal-Mutalammis' satire ofAmr ibn Hind:[36]
Thou hast banished me for fear of lampoon and satire.
No! By Allat and all the sacred baetyls (ansab)
thou shalt not escape.
A poem by the pre-Islamic monotheistZayd ibn Amr mentions al-Lat, along withal-'Uzza andHubal:[37]
Am I to worship one lord or a thousand?
If there are as many as you claim,
I renounce al-Lat and al-Uzza, both of them,
as any strong-minded person would.
I will not worship al-Uzza and her two daughters…
I will not worship Hubal, though he was our lord
in the days when I had little sense.
Al-Lat was also called as a daughter ofAllah along with the other two chief goddessesal-'Uzza andManat.[38][39][40][41] According to theBook of Idols, theQuraysh were to chant the following verses as they circumambulated the Kaaba:[42]
By al-Lat and al-'Uzza,
And Manat, the third idol besides.
Verily they are thegharaniq
Whose intercession is to be sought.
The wordgharaniq was translated as "most exalted females" by Faris in his English translation of theBook of Idols, but he annotates this term in a footnote as "lit. Numidean cranes".[42]
According to Islamic tradition, the shrine dedicated to al-Lat in Ta'if was demolished on the orders ofMuhammad, during theExpedition of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, in the same year as theBattle of Tabuk[34] (which occurred in October 630 AD).[43] 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.[44] According to theBook of Idols, this occurred after theBanu Thaqif converted toIslam, and that her temple was "burnt to the ground".[36]
In theQuran, she is mentioned along withal-‘Uzza andManat inQuran 53:19–22,[45] which became the subject of the allegedSatanic Verses incident,[46] an occasion on which the Islamic prophetMuhammad had mistaken the words of "satanic suggestion" for divine revelation.[47] 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).[46] In its essential form, the story reports that duringMuhammad's recitation of Surat An-Najm, when he reached the following verses:
Have you thought of al-Lāt andal-‘Uzzá
andManāt, the third, the other?
Satan tempted him to utter the following line:[46]
These are the exalted gharāniq, whose intercession is hoped for. (In Arabic تلك الغرانيق العلى وإن شفاعتهن لترتجى.)
Following this, the angelGabriel chastised Muhammad for uttering that line, and the verses were abrogated with a new revelation:[48]
Are yours the males and His the females? That were indeed an unfair division!
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 weakisnads (chains of transmission).[47] Due to its defective chain of narration, the tradition of the Satanic Verses never made it into any of the canonicalhadith compilations,[49] though reference and exegesis about the Verses appear in early histories, such asal-Tabari'sTārīkh ar-Rusul wal-Mulūk andIbn Ishaq'sSīrat Rasūl Allāh (asreconstructed byAlfred Guillaume).[46]
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").[50] The stone was used as a base for the man (a Jew) to grind cereal for the pilgrims ofMecca.[51] While most versions of this legend place the man at Ta'if, other versions place him at either Mecca or 'Ukaz.[50] After the man's death, the stone, or the man in the form of a stone, was deified,[51] according to some legends after theKhuza'a drove theJurhum out of Mecca, while other legends report it was Amr ibn Luhayy who deified the grinder.[50]
Michael Cook noticed the oddity of this story, as it would make al-Lat masculine.[52] Gerald Hawting believes the various legends that link al-Lat with that ofal-latt, "the grinder", was an attempt to relate al-Lat with Mecca.[50] He also compared the legends toIsaf and Na'ila, who according to legend were a man and a woman who fornicated inside theKaaba and were petrified.[51] 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.
F. V. Winnet saw al-Lat as a lunar deity due to association of a crescent with her in 'Ayn esh-Shallāleh and aLihyanite inscription mentioning the name ofWadd over the title of 'fkl lt.[4]René Dussaud and Gonzague Ryckmans linked her with Venus, while others have thought her to be a solar deity.[4] John F. Healey considers al-Uzza might have been an epithet of al-Lat before becoming a separate deity in the Meccan pantheon.[4]Redefining Dionysos considers she might have been a deity of vegetation or a celestial deity of atmospheric phenomena and a sky deity.[13] According to Wellhausen, the Nabataeans believed al-Lat was the mother ofHubal (and hence the mother-in-law ofManāt).[53]
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.[54]
In Ta'if, al-Lat's primary cult image was a cubic stone,[31] sometimes described as white in color.[55]Waqidi's mention of the 'head' (ra's) ofar-Rabba may imply that the image was perceived in human or animal form, althoughJulius Wellhausen resisted this implication.[55]
EarlyPalmyrene depictions of al-Lat share iconographical traits withAtargatis (when seated) andAstarte (when standing).[56] TheLion of Al-Lat that once adorned her temple depicts a lion and a gazelle, the lion representing her consort,[2] and the gazelle representing al-Lat's tender and loving traits, as bloodshed was not permitted under penalty of al-Lat's retaliation.[57]
Al-Lat was associated with the Greek goddessAthena (and by extension, the RomanMinerva) inNabataea,Hatra, andPalmyra.[29][3] It seems that her identification with Athena was only a mere change in iconography,[29] and al-Lat's character noticeably softened the warlike Athena in places where she was equated with al-Lat.[58] OneNabataean relief of Athena-al-Lat depicts the goddess bearing both Athena and al-Lat's attributes.[58] The relief depicts the goddess in the style of Athena, but having aNabataean religion stylized eye-betyl in place of theGorgoneion.[58]
Al-Lat can also be identified with the Babylonian goddessIshtar, with both of the deities taking part in prosperity, warfare, and later being linked toAphrodite and Athena. The two's similarities also appeared in their symbols, as both were associated with lions, morning star,[59][60] and crescents.[61] Like Al-Lat, Ishtar's origin was of Semitic roots.
TheLion of Al-Lat statue that adorned her temple inPalmyra was damaged by theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2015 but has been since restored.[62] It now stands in theNational Museum of Damascus, but it may be returned to Palmyra in the future.[62]
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