Manāt was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca.^[1] The pre-Islamic Arabs believed Manāt to be the goddess of fate and the oldest of the three "Daughters of God". She was known by the cognate name Manawat to the Nabataeans of Petra, who equated her with the Graeco-Roman goddess Nemesis and she was considered the wife of Hubal.^[2] She is also mentioned in the Qur'an (Sura 53:20). According to Grunebaum in Classical Islam, the Arabic name of Manat is the linguistic counterpart of the Hellenistic Tyche, Dahr, fateful 'Time' who snatches men away and robs their existence of purpose and value. There are also connections with Chronos of Mithraism and Zurvan mythology.^[3] The Book of Idols describes her: The Religions of the Ancient Near East were mostly polytheistic, with some early examples of emerging Henotheism (Akhenaton, early Judaism). ... Image File history File links Palm_tree_symbol. ... Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq. ... Arabian mythology is the ancient beliefs of the Arabs. ... In the Levantine pantheon, the Elohim are the sons of El the ancient of days (olam) assembled on the divine holy place, Mount Zephon (Jebel Aqra). ... Arabian mythology is the ancient beliefs of the Arabs. ... Ä’l (אל) is a Northwest Semitic word and name translated into English as either god or God or left untranslated as El, depending on the context. ... Bel, signifying lord or master, is a title rather than a genuine name, applied to various gods in Babylonian relgion. ... Abgal is a pre-Islamic north Arabian god, known from the Palmyrian desert regions as a tutelary god of Bedouins and camel drivers. ... Palmyrene deities: from left to right: the lunar god Aglibôl, the supreme god Beelshamên, the sun god Malakbêl, 1st century CE, found near Bir Wereb, Wadi Miyah, Syria, Louvre Museum. ... Mentioned in the Quran (Sura 53:20), Allāt (a contraction of pre-Arabic *al-ilāhat the Goddess) was a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. ... Astarte on a car with four branches protruding from roof. ... Atargatis, in Aramaic ‘Atar‘atah, was a Syrian deity, more commonly known to the Greeks by a shortened form of the name, Derceto or Derketo (Strabo 16. ... For other uses, see Ishtar (disambiguation). ... The god Bes. ... Anthem Bilady, Bilady, Bilady Capital (and largest city) Cairo Official languages Arabic1 Government Semi-presidential republic  -  President Hosni Mubarak  -  Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif Establishment  -  First Dynasty c. ... Manaf is one of the pre-Islamic polytheist gods of Mecca [1]. Category: ... The name Nergal (or Nirgal, Nirgali) refers to a deity in Babylonia with the main seat of his cult at Cuthah represented by the mound of Tell-Ibrahim. ... It has been suggested that Nebo (god) be merged into this article or section. ... Al-Qaum (القوم), the Nabataean god of war and the night and guardian of caravans. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Shamash or Sama, was the common Akkadian name of the sun-god in Babylonia and Assyria, corresponding to Sumerian Utu. ... Mentioned in the Quran (Sura 53:20), al-Ê•uzzā the Mightiest One (derived from the root Ê•zy) was a pre-Islamic Arabian fertility goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. ... Wadd was the Minaean moon god. ... Yaghuth is an idol referred to in the Quran (71:23) as being worshipped in ancient Yemen. ... According to the Quran, Yauq was a deity worshipped in the days of Noah. ... Palmyrene deities: from left to right: the lunar god Aglibôl, the supreme god Beelshamên, the sun god Malakbêl, 1st century CE, found near Bir Wereb, Wadi Miyah, Syria, Louvre Museum. ... “Fiend” redirects here. ... This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ... Al Khazneh, Petra (the Nabataean capital) Shivta The Nabataeans, Arabic (الأنباط) Al-Anbaat, were an ancient trading people of southern Jordan, Canaan and the northern part of Arabia- whose oasis settlements in the time of Josephus gave the name of Nabatene to the borderland between Syria and Arabia, from the Euphrates... Petra (from petra, rock in Greek; Arabic: البتراء, Al-Butrā) is an archaeological site in Jordan, lying in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Hubal (هبل) was a god worshipped in pagan Arabia, notably at Mecca before the arrival of Islam. ... The Qur’ān [1] (Arabic: ;, literally the recitation; also sometimes transliterated as Quran, Koran, or Al-Quran) is the central religious text of Islam. ... Surat An-Najm (The Star) is the 53rd sura of the Quran with 62 ayat. ... Tyche on the reverse of this coin by Gordian III. In Greek mythology, Tyche (Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity that governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. ... For other uses, see Chronos (disambiguation). ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Zurvan is the name of the first principle (creator deity) in several different religious systems: In Zurvanism (Zurvanite Zoroastrianism) as Zurwān, derived from the Avestan language word for Time. In Manichaeism, where Zurvan is the Middle Persian name that Mani used in his Shapurgan to signify his Father of...

The most ancient of all these idols was Manāt. The Arabs used to name [their children] 'Abd-Manāt and Zayd-Manāt. Manāt was erected on the seashore in the vicinity of al-Mushallal in Qudayd, between Medina and Mecca. All the Arabs used to venerate her and sacrifice before her. The Aws and the Khazraj, as well as the inhabitants of Medina and Mecca and their vicinities, used to venerate Manāt, sacrifice before her, and bring unto her their offerings... The Aws and the Khazraj, as well as those Arabs among the people of Yathrib and other places who took to their way of life, were wont to go on pilgrimage and observe the vigil at all the appointed places, but not shave their heads. At the end of the pilgrimage, however, when they were about to return home, they would set out to the place where Manāt stood, shave their heads, and stay there a while. They did not consider their pilgrimage completed until they visited Manāt. This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ... This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ... This article is about the Saudi city of Medina. ...

—Book of Idols, pp 12-14^[4]

The Quraysh (the ruling tribe of Mecca and other Arabs continued to worship Manat until the time of Muhammad. When Muhammad had to flee Mecca to go to Medina, in what was known as the Hijra, the year that began the Islamic calendar, it was said that his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib demolished the Manat idol, took away all her [treasures], and carried them back to the Prophet. Among the treasures were two swords which had been presented to Manāt by al-Harith ibn Abī-Shamir al-Ghassānī, the king of Ghassān. The swords were named Mikhdham and Rasūb. Quraish (sura) is also the name of a Surah in the Quran. ... This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ... Muhammad in a new genre of Islamic calligraphy started in the 17th century by Hafiz Osman. ... This article is about Islamic Calendar and how it was formed, for the event of hijra see Migration to Medina. ... Ali ibn Abu Talib (Arabic: علي بن أبي طالب translit: ‘AlÄ« ibn Abu Ṭālib Persian: علی پسر ابو طالب) ‎ (599 – 661) is an early Islamic leader. ... The Ghassanids (Arabic: ‎) were Arab Christians that emigrated in the early 3rd century from Yemen to the Hauran, in southern Syria. ...

Notes

References

• Ibn al-Kalbī; (author) and Nabih Amin Faris (translator & commentary) (1952): The Book of Idols, Being a Translation from the Arabic of the Kitāb al-Asnām. Princeton University Press. US Library of Congress #52006741
• Grunebaum, G. E. von (1970). Classical Islam: A History 600 A.D. - 1258 A.D.. Aldine Publishing Company. ISBN 202-15016-X.

External links

• The Book of Idols (Kitāb al-Asnām) by Hishām Ibn al-Kalbī Section: Manah (Manat)
• See definition for Manat in Encyclopedia Mythica