Al-Uzza was one of the three chief goddesses of pre-Islamic Arabian religion, worshipped alongside Al-Lat and Manat, and stood as the primary goddess of the Nabataean kingdom centered on Petra, in what is now Jordan. The Nabataeans built a great temple to her at the center of Petra, known today as the Temple of the Winged Lions, where a surviving zodiac wheel places a large image of Al-Uzza at its center. She was associated with the morning and evening star, with war and love, and, in a desert society, with wells and springs as a source of life-sustaining water.
Facts
Attestation
Era of Attestation Veneration TodayHistorically attested; no continuous cult 1 HistoricityNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being 1 Belief
TheologyPolytheistic: many gods 1 Function
Domain / Function Sources
1. The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend
Anthony S. Mercatante, revised and expanded by James R. Dow, Facts on File
2. The Religion of the Nabataeans: A Conspectus
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