Painting: The Bathing Cove by Frederick Arthur Bridgeman
Wathan/Arabian Deities: DhuâShara and Kaâibah.
DhuâShara is the âLord of the Mountainâ and Kaâibah is said to be the virgin mother of DhuâShara. There is some speculation that the goddess Kaâibah did not actually exist and her name was a translating error. I personally believe she is a goddess although she might be a new goddess as opposed to an ancient one. DhuâShara, however, did exist and there is clear evidence of this.
DhuâShara - Lord of the Mountain / God of Vegetation, Oasis and Freshwater Springs / God of Kingship and Immortality / Protector of the King / The One Who Separates Day and Night / Protector of Tombs
DhuâShara had a temple in Petra (modern day Jordan) and was a patron of the city Madain Saleh. His worship also spread to south of Mecca. He was held in high regards alongside Al-Uzza and Al-Lat. He was the brother of Al-Qaum (Shay al-Qawm) possibly by a different mother. Al-Lat was either the consort or mother of DhuâShara. Al-Uzza was also possibly his consort as her âvirginâ characteristic may have come from the Greeks and Romans associating her with Athena/Minerva and not the ancient Nabataeans.
DhuâSharaâs worship also spread to Rome in Puteoli, a trading port city. There the Romans called him Dusares. His worship was mostly centered around the Nabataean merchants who traveled to and living in the city.
Kaâibah - Virgin / Maiden / Mother of DhuâShara / Goddess of the Cube (Kaaba)
Kaâibah is a goddess whose name literally means virgin. Her name comes from the word "ka'abu" which later became the word for "cube in the Arabic language and where we get the word âKaabaâ. She would probably be seen as both a mother goddess and protector of tradition/beliefs.
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This is the first post in a series that assembles sources on ancient religious syncretism and the identification of divinities. I'm starting off with a fairly little-known deity, Aion, or rather with the mysteries of the god called Aion by the Alexandrians - there where other Aions who have little or nothing to do with this one. Theoi.com makes the mistake, in my view, of identifying them all.
Dusares is the Nabatean god Dushara, or Dushara-A'ra.
Epiphanius, The Panarion 51.22.9-11 (translation from this book)
The principal of these feasts [held the night before the day of Epiphany, and therefore held by this Christian author to be imitations of the Christian feast] is that which takes place in the so-called Koreion in Alexandria, this Koreion being a mighty temple in the district sacred to Kore. Throughout the whole night the people keep themselves awake here by singing certain hymns and by means of the flute-playing which accompanies the songs they sing to the image of their god.
When they have ended these nocturnal celebrations, then at morning cock-crow they descend, carrying torches, into a sort of chapel which is below the ground, and thence they carry up a wooden image of one lying naked upon a bier. This image has upon its forehead a golden cross and two more such seals in the form of crosses one on each hand and two further ones, one on each knee, making five such golden seals in all.
Such things also occur in Petra which is the chief city of Arabia and is called Edom in Holy Scripture and the image there is similarly honoured. The hymns they sing are in the Arabic tongue and are in praise of a virgin whom they call âChaamuâ which is the same as Kore or Parthenos [virgin], and in praise of her child âDusaresâ which means âOnly son of the ruler of allâ. The same thing happens on the same night in Alexandria, in Petra and also in the city of Elusa.
Hesychius, s.v. Dusares
Dusares:
Dionysos. [So called among the] Nabateans, as Isidore says.
An inscription (cited and translated in this book on Nabatean religion)
Masechos (son) of Aoueidanos (made this for) Dusares Arra
Suda, s.v. Theus Ares. Translation Suda Online
Theus Ares [i.e. Dusares]:
Namely the god (theos) Ares, in Petra in Arabia. The god Ares is revered amongst them; for this one they especially honor. The statue is a black stone, square in shape, unchiseled, four feet tall, two wide: it is mounted on a plinth of beaten gold. To this they pour forth the blood of the sacrificial animals on this; and this is their libation. And the whole house is rich in gold, and many votive offerings.
Suda, s.v. Epiphanios. Derived from Damascius. Suda Online
Epiphanios:
and Euprepios were both Alexandrian in origin and very expert in the rites accepted by the Alexandrians. Euprepios presided over the rites called Persian, but Epiphanios over those concerning Osiris; not only so, but also of the rites of the god celebrated as Aion. Though I could say who this god is, nevertheless I am not writing it in accordance with my present purpose. Epiphanios had a leadership role in these rites also. These men were not born into the time-honored style of life, but overlapped with and met those who were; assisted by them, they then became sources of many blessings for their contemporaries, eloquent heralds especially of the ancient stories. Damascius [wrote this].
Suda, s.v. Heraiskos. Derived from Damascius. Suda Online
Heraiskos:
By nature Heraiskos had a more godlike appearance, but the one who was more knowledgeable in the wisdom of the Egyptians, Asklepiades, because the latter had been spending so much time studying Egyptian [wisdom], but the former had been traveling; but each one nevertheless fell far short of the other in natural ability or in understanding.
Heraiskos actually had a natural talent for distinguishing between religious statues that were animated and those that were not. For as soon as he looked at one his heart was struck by a sensation of the divine and he gave a start in his body and his soul, as though seized by the god. If he was not moved in such a fashion then the statue was soulless and had no share of divine inspiration. In this way he distinguished the secret statue of Aion which the Alexandrians worshipped as being possessed by the god, who was both Osiris and Adonis at the same time according to some mystical union.
There was also something in Heraiskosâ nature that rejected defilements of nature. For instance, if he heard any unclean woman speaking, no matter where or how, he immediately got a headache, and this was taken as a sign that she was menstruating. Thus while he lived there was always something godlike about him; and at his death, when Asklepiades was preparing to give the customary things to the priests, especially the garment of Osiris on his body, at once secret symbols shone with light on all parts of the fabric, and around them were seen kinds of appearances appropriate to a god, showing clearly with what great gods he had been a dinner-guest.
Even his birth had something mystical about it: he is said to have issued from his mother holding the shushing finger up to his lips, just as the Egyptians tell the story about Oros and before Oros about Helios. As a result, since the finger was fused to his lips, he needed surgery, and he went through life with a scar on his lip, a clear sign for everyone to see of his marvelous birth.
Hence his life also reached such a point that his soul always resided in hidden sanctuaries as he practiced not only his native rites in Egypt but also those of other nations, wherever there was something left of these.
And Heraiskos became a Bakkhos, as a dream designated him.
But Asklepiades devoting himself more to the Egyptian books was more precisely acquainted with their native theology, having investigated its origins and middle, and simply busying himself with the ignorance of the furthest limits, as it is possible to know clearly from the hymns which he composed to the gods of the Egyptians, and from the treatise which he undertook to write encompassing the harmony of all theologies.
And he wrote a book encompassing lore of the primeval Egyptians not less than thirty thousand years but even a little more.
Heraiskos was not only good and gentle, but he was inclined to anger at wickedness and manfully resisted the schemes of men, yet never transgressing the measure of justice. For Ammonios and Erythrios the Egyptian contended with each other in Byzantium, and each always continued to thrust the other into the most extreme dangers.
See [sc. further] concerning Heraiskos under Gesios.
Hesychius s.v. Bakkchos. My translation. Greek text at Wikisource.
Bakchos:
The priest of Dionysos. And a twig in the mysteries, they call [it?] a torch. They call a fish this.
Pseudo-Callisthenes
tells us that Alexander received an oracle that foretold the greatness of Alexandria, which would be watched over by Aion Ploutonios.
Dushara (Arabic: ذ٠شعŮâ, "Lord of the Mountain"), also transliterated as 'Dusares', was an aniconic deity in the ancient Middle East worshipped by the Nabataeans at Petra and Madain Saleh (of which city he was the patron). He was mothered by Manat the goddess of fate. In Greek times, he was associated with Zeus because he was the chief of the Nabataean pantheon as well as with Dionysus. His sanctuary at Petra contained a great temple in which a large cubical stone was the centrepiece.
