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Al-Uzza ("The Most Mighty") is a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess, the virgin warrior and
youngest in the triad of goddesses with Menat ("Time", the Death or Fate goddess,
sometimes--I think erroneously--called the Goddess of the Full Moon, since the Moon in
Arabia was masculine) and Al Lat (whose name means "The Goddess", as Al Lah means
"The God"). They survived (a bit) even into Islam, where they are called in the Koran the
three daughters of Allah. The three were worshipped as uncut aniconic stones, and the
"idols" of Al-Uzza and Al Lat were two of the 300+ pagan statues at the Ka'aba that were
destroyed by Mohammed. She is a star-goddess, associated with the planet Venus, and was
honored by the Koreishites (incidentally Mohammed's tribe) as one of their highest
goddesses. She was reputed to accept human sacrifices, though that comes from Islamic
sources, who likely were not unbiased when writing about the "barbarous ways" of the
competition.
Originally Sabean (the culture of the Kingdom of Saba or Sheba in the south of Arabia,
present-day Yemen), worship of Al-Uzza spread all over Arabia. She had a sanctuary in a
valley on the road from Mecca, comprising three acacia trees in which She was said to
descend. Some scholars believe She may even have been the patron deity of Mecca itself.
The Greeks connected Her with their Urania ("The Heavenly", an epithet of Aphrodite, as
well as the name of a Muse) and with Caelistis, a Moon Goddess and the Roman name for
the Carthaginian's Tanit. Al-Uzza is also sometimes identified with Isis. Other sources link
Her with Minerva/Athene which would make Her the virgin warrior goddess. Herodotus
says the supreme goddess of the Arabs was Urania, who he says was called Alilat (i.e., Al
Lat), and indeed Al-Uzza was sometimes confused with Al Lat, leading some scholars to
wonder if Al Lat and Al-Uzza are different regional names for the same goddess.
Al-Uzza is a member of the Nabatean zodiac and has been called the Mistress of Heaven.
She seems to be the premier goddess worshipped in their capital city, the famous Petra,
located in present-day Jordan. Petra was a major stop on the spice roads and was a very
wealthy city. The tombs or temples there are carved out of the living rock, and the only way
into the city is through a dramatic tunnel-like narrow gorge, nearly a mile long, that
suddenly opens on to the city. (If this sounds familiar, it's because Petra was used as one of
the locations in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".)
Al-Uzza is also the goddess who guards ships on ocean voyages. Though Arabia is a land
of deserts and nomads, the Nabateans did make ocean voyages to trade. In this aspect She is
symbolized by the dolphin, whose habit of swimming alongside ships made them guardians
and protectors. Felines are also sacred to Her, and the Temple of the Winged Lions at Petra
may well be Hers.
Al-Uzza represents confidence, vigilance and preparation. She is fiercely protective, and is
a strong ally in an approaching battle.
Alternate spelling: Al Uzza, al-'Uzza, El-'Ozza, Uzza, Izza.
Also called: Sa'ida 'Uzza ("Blessed Uzza"), as-S'ida ("The Blessed")
For another version of Al-Uzza, with Al-Lat and Manat, go here.
Al-Uzz
Al-Uzz (Arabic: )was one of the three chief goddesses of Arabian religion in
pre-Islamic times and was worshiped as one of the daughters of Allh (not to be
confused with the Abrahamic Allah the God worshiped by Muslims) by the preIslamic arabs along with Allt and Mant. Al-Uzz was also worshipped by the
Nabataeans, who equated her with the Greek goddess Aphrodite Ourania (Roman
Venus Caelestis). A stone cube at a-if (near Mecca) was held sacred as part of her
cult. She is mentioned in the Qur'an Sura 53:19 as being one of the female idols that
people worshiped (Islam condemns Idol worship and emphasises the divinity of
God).
Al-Uzz, like Hubal, was called upon for protection by the pre-Islamic Quraysh. "In 624 at
the battle called 'Uhud', the war cry of the Qurayshites was, "O people of Uzz, people of
Hubal!"[1] Al-Uzz also later appears in Ibn Ishaq's account of the Satanic Verses.
[edit] At Petra
The first known mention of al-Uzz is from the inscriptions at Dedan, the capital of the
Lihyanite Kingdom, in the fourth or third century BC. She had been adopted alongside
Dushara as the presiding goddess at Petra, the Nabataen capital, where she assimiliated
with Isis, Tyche, and Aphrodite attributes and superseded her sisters.[2] During the 5th
century Christianity became the prominent religion of the region following conquest by
Barsauma.[3]
She was the Lady Uzzayan to whom a South Arabian offered a golden image on behalf of
his sick daughter, Amat-Uzzayan ("the Maid of Uzzayan")
Abdu l-Uzz ["Slave of the Mightiest One"] was a favourite proper name at the rise of
Islam. (Hitti 1937). The name al-Uzz appears as an emblem of beauty in late pagan
Arabic poetry quoted by Ibn al-Kalb, and oaths were sworn by her.[5]
Al-Uzz's possible presence in South Arabia has been thoroughly effaced by time but her
presence has not been obliterated far north at Petra of the Nabataeans, who had deities with
Arabian names early in their history, whom they later associated with Hellenistic gods,
al-Uzz becoming associated with Isis and with Aphrodite [2]. Excavations at Petra since
1974 have revealed a temple, apparently dedicated to Isis/al-Uzz, now named after some
carvings found inside, the Temple of the Winged Lions (Hammond). Inscriptions record the
name of al-Uzz at Petra.
A fragment of poetry by Zayd ibn-'Amr ibn-Nufayl, quoted in the "Book of Idols", suggests
that al-Uzz had two daughters: "No more do I worship al-Uzz and her two daughters.
(Arabic: .)"
Muhammad Mohar Ali writes (2002):
The Arabs had developed a number of subsidiary Kabt (tawaghit) at different places in
the land, each with its presiding god or goddess. They used to visit those shrines at
appointed times, circumambulate them and make sacrifices of animals there, besides
performing other polytheistic rites. The most prominent of these shrines were those of alLt at Ta'if, al-Uzz at Nakhlah and al-Mant near Qudayd. The origins of these idols are
uncertain. Ibn al-Kalb says that al-Lt was "younger" ('ahdath) than al-Manawat, while
al-Uzz was "younger" than both al-Lt and al-Manawat. But though al-Uzz was thus the
youngest of the three; it was nonetheless the most important and the greatest (azam) idol
with the Quraysh who, along with the Ban Kinnah, ministered to it.
On the authority of Abdu l-Lh ibn Abbs, at-Tabari derived al-Uzz from al-Azz "the
Mighty", one of the 99 "beautiful names of Allah" in his commentary on Qur'an 7:180[6].
[edit] As an Angel
In Judaic and Christian lore Uzza has been also used as an alternative name for the angel
Metatron in the Sefer ha-heshek. More commonly he is referred to as either the seraphim
Semyaza or as one of the three guardian angels of Egypt (Rahab, Mastema, and Duma) that
harried the Jews during the Exodus.[7] As Semyaza in legend he is the seraph tempted by
Ishtahar into revealing the explicit name of God and was thus burned alive and hung head
down between heaven and earth as the constellation Orion.[8] In the 3rd book of Enoch and
in the Zohar he is one of the fallen angels punished for cohabiting with human women and
fathering the anakim.[9] Uzz is also identified with Abezi Thibod ("father devoid of
counsel") who in early Jewish lore is also used as another name for Samael and Mastema
referring to a powerful spirit who shared princedom of Egypt with Rahab and opposed
Moses to eventually drown in the Red sea.[10]
[edit] References
1. ^ Tawil 1993
2. ^ Jane Taylor, Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans, I.B.Tauris Publishers,
2001, ISBN 1860645089 pg. 130
3. ^ Jane Taylor, Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans I.B.Tauris Publishers,
2001, ISBN 1860645089 pg. 209
4. ^ Jawad Ali, Al-Mufassal Fi Tarikh al-Arab Qabl al-Islam (Beirut), 6:238-9
5. ^ [1]
6. ^ Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi, The Book of Idols, 25
7. ^ Gustav Davidson, A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels,
Scrollhouse, 1967 ISBN 002907052X pg. xiii, xxiv,
8. ^ Gustav Davidson, A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels,
Scrollhouse, 1967 ISBN 002907052X pg. 301
9. ^ Gustav Davidson, A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels,
Scrollhouse, 1967 ISBN 002907052X pg. 18, 65
10. ^ Gustav Davidson, A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels,
Scrollhouse, 1967 ISBN 002907052X pg. 4
Burton, John, The Collection of the Qur'an, Cambridge University Press, 1977: the
collection and composition of the Qu'ran in the life time of Muhammad
Hammond, Philip, "An Isisian Model for The Goddess of the 'Temple of the Winged
Lions' at Petra (Jordan)". 1985
Peters, F. E., The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places.
Princeton University Press 1994
al-Tawil, Hashim, "Early Arab Icons: Literary and Archaeological Evidence for the
Cult of Religious Images in Pre-Islamic Arabia", PhD dissertation, University of
Iowa, 1993 [3]
Ibn al-Kalb; (author) and Nabih Amin Faris (translator & commentary) (1952): The
Book of Idols, Being a Translation from the Arabic of the Kitb al-Asnm."
Princeton University Press. US Library of Congress #52006741
This article incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), a publication
now in the public domain.