Ruda (deity)
| Part of the myth series on |
| Religions of the ancient Near East |
|---|
| Pre-Islamic Arabian deities |
| Arabian deities of other Semitic origins |
Ruḍāʾ is a
He is first mentioned in the annals of
Etymology
The etymology of his name gives the meaning "well disposed" an indication of his function as a protective deity.[1]
Attestations
Pre-Islamic era
The oldest reference to Ruda is found in the annals of Esarhaddon who ruled over the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 681 to 669 BC. The name is transliterated into Latin script from the original Akkadian as Ru-ul-da-a-a-ú and he is mentioned among the gods of the Arabs.[1]
Known as Arsu among the Palmyrenes, in a later Palmyrene Aramaic inscription, Arsu/Ruda is paired with the Syrian god Resheph, a protective deity for his worshippers from the 3rd millennium BC.[1]
An
Islamic era
Ruda is mentioned in Hisham ibn al-Kalbi's Book of Idols.[3] The name Abd-Ruda was said to be known at the time.[3] Al-Kalbi reports that some traditionists relate Ruda to a temple belonging to the Banu Rabi’ah ibn Sa’d ibn Zayd ibn Manat tribe.[3] During the early days of Islam, the temple was destroyed.[3]
Scholarly interpretations
Dierk Lange writes that Ruda formed part of a trinity of gods worshipped by the
A trinity of gods representing the sun, moon and Venus is also found among the peoples of the South Arabian kingdoms of
See also
References
Bibliography
- Hoyland, Robert G. (2001), Arabia and the Arabs: from the Bronze Age to the coming of Islam (Illustrated, reprint ed.), Routledge, ISBN 9780415195355
- Lange, Dierk (2004), Ancient kingdoms of West Africa: African-centred and Canaanite-Israelite perspectives : a collection of published and unpublished studies in English and French, J.H.Röll Verlag, ISBN 9783897541153 (at Google Books)
- Lipiński, Edward (2000), The Aramaeans: their ancient history, culture, religion (Illustrated ed.), Peeters Publishers, ISBN 9789042908598
- al-Kalbi, Ibn (2015), Book of Idols, translated by Faris, Nabih Amin, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-1-4008-7679-2