#al uzza

Charming and glorious Al-Uzza, your might and beauty shines on all our souls through our human eyes.

Al-Uzza of Nakhla, your heartwarming glory shines like the morning star.

You, who protects us from the malevolent forces, mortal or not, dead or alive. Test your power on the ones who harm us, as they are ignorant of the fact that you, Al-Uzza, are the one who helps us in the roughest times.

Everything is yours, from the deep roots of the trees under the ground to the shiny morning star in the sky.

Lovely sister of Manāt and Allāt, may your strength warm our hearts until the end of time.

Written by me :)

Khirbet edh-Dharih

Jordan

100 CE

22x16 m

Dharih's Nabataean settlement can be roughly dated to around 100 CE. It flourished during a period of prosperity in times of the Roman annexation of the Nabataean Kingdom. 

The temple (22 m x 16 m) consists of an unroofed vestibule to the south which opens to an almost square complex to the north, with a cultic platform in its center.  The façade facing south was 15 meters high. It had two protruding pedestals that used to host statues on each side of the entrance door, and two large windows above them. The architrave was decorated with carved vines and animals, and had Medusa heads at the corners. The frieze above displayed figures of the Zodiac alternating with winged Victories, and the triangular pediment, sea centaurs crowned by flying Victories. Standing eagles guarded the central figures. While several of the mentioned figures can be seen at the Jordan Museum, the central couple of gods, Dushara and al-'Uzza, can only be guessed from fragments.

The columned podium (7 x 7 m, height 1.40 m) in the center is accessed through two narrow stairways in the front. In the central slab of its pavement is a rectangular hole flanked by two small circular ones. Beneath the slab, a stone basin was found. The excavators interpret this as a system for sticking a betyl, and collecting the offering liquid after the ritual libations. It is not clear if this would have been wine, oil, or even blood. In a later phase, further two betyl holes were added in diagonal, which indicates a cult of a triad of gods.

A narrow U-shaped corridor surrounds the podium on three sides to circumambulate it in ritual processions. The hallway also gives access to two crypts situated under the platform and to the corner rooms. The northeast one encloses a staircase that used to lead to a terraced roof, and the two on the northwest side have large wall cupboards.

It is assumed that the craftsmen of the Dharih temple were the same who decorated the temple on the peak of Jabal et-Tannur.

Image source:

https://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/arabtriple.php

Mighty goddesses, you who have protected us from all harm through the centuries, please hear my prayers. Aid me in my hardest times, and look over me when i need you. I humbly ask you, great Al-Uzza , Al-Lat and Manāt , to protect me when i need it, and be there for me. May my life be as clean as a desert with yellow sand. May my future be as bright as the Sun protected by the goddess Shams. May my life be as abundant as Allat's grain fields. May my love be as gentle as Al-Uzza. And may the time of my death be as far away as time. Thank you, for everything.

Although Azazel is now one of the Mussulman names for a devil, it would appear to be nearly related to Al Uzza of the Koran, one of the goddesses of whom the significant tradition exists, that once when Mohammed had read, from the Sura called 'The Star,' the question, 'What think ye of Allat, Al Uzza, and Manah, that other third goddess?' he himself added, 'These are the most VOL. I. Digitized by Google Original from HARVARD

In Islam, 

Al-Uzza is considered a false deity (idol) from the pre-Islamic era (Jahiliyyah) whose worship was abolished with the advent of Islam. Before Islam, she was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca, often referred to as the "daughters of Allah" by the pagan Arabs, a concept explicitly rejected in the Qur'an. 

Key points regarding Al-Uzza in Islam:

Pre-Islamic context: Al-Uzza ("The Mighty One") was a highly revered goddess of war, love, and the morning/evening star (Venus) in pre-Islamic Arabia, particularly by the Quraysh tribe (Muhammad's tribe). Oaths were sworn by her, and her main shrine, which included a sacred tree and a stone cube, was located at Nakhla, near Mecca.

Mention in the Qur'an: Al-Uzza is mentioned in the Qur'an in Surah An-Najm (53:19-20), where God challenges the pagans' belief in her and the other two goddesses, Al-Lat and Manat: "Have you then considered Al-Lat, and Al-'Uzza, and Manat, the third, the other one? Is it for you the males and for Him the females? That indeed is an unjust division". The verses strongly reject their divinity and the idea that God has daughters.

Destruction of her shrine:After the Muslim conquest of Mecca in 630 AD (8 AH), the Prophet Muhammad ordered the destruction of her temple and idol. Khalid ibn al-Walid was sent to Nakhla to carry this out. According to early Islamic historical sources, Khalid destroyed the sacred trees and killed a woman who appeared, whom Muhammad identified as Al-Uzza herself, saying she would never be worshiped again.

Islamic perspective: In Islam, the worship of Al-Uzza is considered polytheism (shirk), the gravest sin. The Islamic faith emphasizes strict monotheism (Tawhid), and all pre-Islamic idols and deities are considered false fabrications with no divine authority. The practice of her worship is cited in hadith as a sign of the Last Day, when some people will revert to idolatry. 

...The results, published by the 'Nexus Network Journal', indicate that those great buildings were erected bearing in mind the equinoxes, solstices and other astronomical events that determined the Nabataean religion. The Nabataeans prospered in the first century BC and the first century AD in what is now Jordan and neighbouring countries....

...A clear example is seen in Ad Deir, the Monastery at Petra. During the winter solstice, the light of the setting sun entering through the gate of the monument illuminates the sacred motab. It is a podium where some stone blocks, which represent divinities such as the god Dushara, are placed.

"The effect is spectacular, and would have only been observable during the few days closest to this solstice," commented Belmonte, who also emphasises how, just in this moment, another curious phenomenon is produced. As observed from the motab itself, the setting of the sun recreates the aspect of the head of a lion, the animal of the Nabataean goddess Al Uzza, on the opposite rocks.