Allāt

[Anthony]

Allāt or al-Lāt (Arabic: اللات‎) was a Pre-Islamic Arabian goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. She is mentioned in the Qur'an (Sura 53:19), which indicates that pre-Islamic Arabs considered her as one of the daughters of Allah along with Manāt and al-‘Uzzá.

The shrine and temple dedicated to al-Lat in Taif was demolished by Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, on the orders of Muhammad, during the Expedition of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, in the same year as the Battle of Tabuk[1] (which occurred in October 630 AD.[2][3]The destruction of the idol was a demand by Muhammad before any reconciliation could take place with the citizens of Taif who were under constant attack.[4]

Especially in older sources, Allat is an alternative name of the Mesopotamian goddess of the underworld,[5][6] now usually known as Ereshkigal. She was reportedly also venerated in Carthage under the name Allatu.[7]

The goddess occurs in early Safaitic graffiti (Safaitic han-'Ilāt "the Goddess") and the Nabataeans of Petra and the people of Hatra also worshipped her, equating her with the Greek Athena and Tyche and the Roman Minerva. She is frequently called "the Great Goddess" in Greek in multi-lingual inscriptions.[8] According to Wellhausen, the Nabataeans believed al-Lāt was the mother of Hubal (and hence the mother-in-law of Manāt).

The Greek historian Herodotus, writing in the 5th century BC, considered her the equivalent of Aphrodite:

The Assyrians call Aphrodite Mylitta, the Arabians Alilat, and the Persians Mitra. In addition that diety is associated with the Indian diety Mitra (Vedic). The persian and Indian diety were developed from the proto-indo-iranian diety known as *mitra.[9]

According to Herodotus, the ancient Arabians believed in only two gods:

They believe in no other gods except Dionysus 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; and Aphrodite, Alilat.[10]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allat