Translations:The Pantheon of Qedar/5/en

The worship of a Venusian deity by Arabs is further confirmed by the remark of Jerome that Saint Hilarion "arrived at Elusa on the very day that a solemn festival had brought all the people of the town to the temple of Venus; for the Saracens worship this Goddess as the Morning Star and their race is dedicated to Her cult." The Arabs also worshipped a male deity associated with Venus known as Azizos/ʿAziz. ʿAziz was identified as Ares by emperor Julian in his work 'Hymn to King Helios'. He says: "The inhabitants of Emesa, a place from time immemorial sacred to Helios, associate with Helios in their temples Monimos and Azizos. Iamblichus, from whom I have taken this and all besides, a little from a great store, says that the secret meaning to be interpreted is that Monimos is Hermes and Azizos Ares, the assessors of Helios, who are the channel for many blessings to the region of our earth." This might explain why Allāt was identified with Athena instead of Aphrodite in the Hellenistic era; the Arabs understood the personification of Venus to have a warrior aspect. It also explains what happened to ʿAṯtarat Samay, She was simply referred to as "the Goddess" which is what Allāt means.