Allt

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(Redirected from Allat) Jump to: navigation, search Fl, )l-h (:6 Semitic) :a$B, :e$o 2Gl, 2al, 2Gl#HamCn @rotalt A$gal Qa(m Agli$ol SCn, :anna#Suen al#I-t, al#')l-hat Shams, Samas Astarte +,, Atargatis (S5rian) 6add )Jtar, Athtar LaghBth 2es (Kg5pto#Ara$ic) La'u< Man-t Larhi$olMMala=$el Manaf astral ! lo"al d#iti#s :ergal d#mons Mentioned in the Qur'an (Sura 5 :!"), Allt (a contraction of pre#Ara$ic %al-ilhat &the 'oddess&) (as a pre# )slamic Ara$ian goddess (ho (as one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca* She, +,,-, and Man-t are the three goddesses that the pre#)slamic Meccans referred to as &.he /aughters of 'od&*

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)n the Qur'an, she is mentioned along (ith +,,- and Man-t in Sura 5 :01#! * According to 2o$ .ru$sha(, Allat (as a triple goddess of the moon, similar to /emeter* She had three aspects, each corresponding to a different phase of the moon: Q're, the crescent or maiden3 Al#+,,a, the full moon or mother3 and Manat, the (aning moon or (ise (oman* .he phase of Al#+,,a (as (orshipped at the 4aa$a and served $5 seven priestesses* 6orshippers circled the stone seven times, once for each of the ancient seven planets*708 9er name occurs in earl5 Safaitic graffiti (Safaitic han-'Ilt &the 'oddess&) and she (as (orshipped $5 the :a$ataeans of ;etra and the people of 9atra, (ho e<uated her (ith the 'ree= Athena and the Roman Minerva* According to 6ellhausen, the5 $elieved All-t (as the mother of 9u$al (and hence the mother#in#la( of Man-t)* .he 'ree= historian 9erodotus, (riting in the 5th centur5 2*>*, considers her the e<uivalent of Aphrodite:&.he Ass5rians call Aphrodite M5litta, the Ara$ians Alilat, and the ;ersians Mitra& (9istories ):0 0)* According to 9erodotus, the ancient Ara$ians $elieved in onl5 t(o gods: &.he5 $elieve in no other gods e?cept /ion5sus and the 9eavenl5 Aphrodite3 and the5 sa5 that the5 (ear their hair as /ion5sus does his, cutting it round the head and shaving the temples* .he5 call /ion5sus, @rotalt3 and Aphrodite, Alilat*& (9istories ))): A)* According to the Book of Idols (Kitab al-Asnm) $5 9ish-m $* al#4al$i, the pre#)slamic Ara$s $elieved Allt resided in the 4aa$a and also had an idol inside the sanctuar5:

9er custod5 (as in the hands of the 2anB#Att-$ i$n#M-li= of the .ha<Cf, (ho had $uilt an edifice over her* .he Qura5sh, as (ell as all the Ara$s, (ere (ont to venerate All-t* .he5 also used to name their children after her, calling them Da5d#All-t and .a5m#All-t* 7***8 All-t continued to $e venerated until the .ha<Cf em$raced )slam, (hen the Apostle of 'od dispatched al#MughCrah i$n#Shu$ah, (ho destro5ed her and $urnt her temple to the ground* E B. al-Kalbi, N.A. Faris 1952, pp. 1 -15