| Part of themyth series on Religions of the ancient Near East |
| Pre-Islamic Arabian deities |
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| Arabian deities of other Semitic origins |
According to the 5th century BCE Greek historianHerodotus,Orotalt (Ancient Greek:Ὀροτάλτ) was agod ofpre-Islamic Arabia whom heidentified with the Greek godDionysus:
They believe in no other gods except Dionysus and the HeavenlyAphrodite; 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.[1]
Also known asĐū Shará or Dusares (which means "Possessor of the (Mountain) Shara"), Orotalt was worshipped by theNabataeans,Arabs who inhabited southernJordan,Canaan and the northern part ofArabia.
Merriam-Webster'sEncyclopedia of World Religions[2] states that Orotalt is a phonetic transcription of the name of the sun godRuḍā.
Brewer'sDictionary of Phrase and Fable[3] derives it from a corruption ofAllāh ta'āla ("God Exalted"). The transcription fromAllāh ta'ālato Orotalt can be explained thus: The Semitic 'l' is commonly equated with 'r' in Greek, and vice versa. For example, the word "river" isNahrin Arabic,Neharin Hebrew andNahalin other Semitic languages, which was likely transcribed as Νεῖλος in Greek (as in theNileriver).
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