Chaabou

According to the early Christian bishop Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 315–403), Chaabou or Kaabu was a goddess in the Nabataean pantheon—a virgin who gave birth to the god Dusares. However, Epiphanus likely mistook the word ka'abu ("cube", etymologically related to the name of the Kaaba), referring to the stone blocks used by the Nabateans to represent Dusares and possibly other deities, for the proper name of a goddess.[1][2] His report that Chaabou was a virgin was likely influenced by his desire to find a parallel to the Christian belief in the virgin birth of Jesus, and by the similarity of the words ka'bah and ka'ibah ("virgin") in Arabic, a language closely related to that spoken by the Nabateans.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Stephen Herbert Langdon (1964) [first published 1931]. Semitic Mythology. The Mythology of All Races. 5. New York: Cooper Square Publishers. p. 16.
  2. 1 2 Eugene D. Stockton (1971). "Petra revisited: a review of a Semitic cult complex" (PDF). Australian Journal of Biblical Archaeology. 1 (4): 57.


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