Wadd

For other uses, see Wadd (disambiguation).

Wadd (Arabic: ود‎‎) (Musnad: 𐩥𐩵) was the Minaean moon-god. Snakes were associated with him. An altar dedicated to him was erected by Minaeans living on the Greek island of Delos. The altar contains two inscriptions, one of which is in Minaean language and the other in Greek. Minaean inscription on the altar begins with symbols of three Minaean god one of which is of Wadd whose symbol is a snake. The Minaean text on the altar reads, "Hāni' and Zayd'il [of the lineage] of Hab erected the altar of Wadd and of the deities of Ma'in at Delos." The Greek inscription reads, "[Property] of Oaddos, god of the Minaeans. To Oaddos."[1][2] He was also worshipped by Minaean colonists in Dedan (modern-day Al-`Ula) during the Lihyanite rule. A temple of Wadd evidently existed in Dedan. There is evidence from Minaean inscriptions of the presence of Levites in the temple of Wadd who according to some scholars were either as priests or cult servants who could later be promoted to higher positions.[3][4][5]

The Banu Kalb tribe worshipped Wadd in the form of a man and is said to have represented heaven.[6][7]

He is mentioned in the Qur'an (71:23) as a deity of the time of the Prophet Noah.

And they say: By no means leave your gods, nor leave Wadd, nor Suwa'; nor Yaghuth, and Ya'uq and Nasr. (Qur'an 71:23)

The Temple dedicated to Wadd was demolished on the orders of Muhammad in the Expedition of Khalid ibn al-Walid (2nd Dumatul Jandal).[8][9]

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Greg Fisher (2015). Arabs and Empire Before Islan. Oxford University Press. p. 118. ISBN 9780199654529.
  2. ↑ Nancy L. Stair, Amanda Ferguson (2003). A Historical Atlas of Saudi Arabia. Rosen Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 9780823938674.
  3. ↑ Dierk Lange (2004). Ancient Kingdoms of West Africa: African-centred and Canaanite-Israelite Perspective; a Collection of Published and Unpublished studies in English and French. Verlag J. H. Röll GmbH. p. 9783897541153.
  4. ↑ Lynn M. Hilton, Hope A. Hilton (1996). Discovering Lehi. Cedar Fort, Inc. p. 179. ISBN 9781462126385.
  5. ↑ Peter Alpass (2003). The Religious Life of Nabataea. Brill Publishers. p. 120. ISBN 9789004216235.
  6. ↑ Thomas Patrick Hughes (1995). Dictionary of Islam. Asian Education Services. p. 192. ISBN 9788120606722.
  7. ↑ Ibn al-Kalbi (translated by Nabith Amin Faris) (2015). "Book of Idols". Princeton University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9781400876792.
  8. ↑ William Pickthall, Marmaduke (1967). Islamic culture, Volume 9. Islamic Culture Board. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-142-49174-1. Original is from the University of Virginia
  9. ↑ ibn al Kalbi, Hisham (1952). The book of idols: being a translation from the Arabic of the Kitāb al-asnām. Princeton University Press. p. 48. ASIN B002G9N1NQ.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.