The Sabaean Kingdom came into existence from at least the eleventh century BC.[4] There were four major kingdoms or tribal confederations in South Arabia: Saba, Hadramout, Qataban and Ma'in. Saba is believed to be biblical Sheba and was the most prominent federation.[5] The Sabaean rulers adopted the title Mukarrib generally thought to mean "unifier",[6] or a "priest-king".[7] The role of the Mukarrib was to bring the various tribes under the kingdom and preside over them all.[8] The Sabaens built the Great Dam of Marib around 940 BCE.[9] The dam was built to withstand the seasonal flash floods surging down the valley.
Al-Lat ( Arabic : اللات , romanized : Al-Lāt , pronounced [alːaːt] ), also spelled Allat , Allatu and Alilat , is a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess worshipped under various associations throughout the entire peninsula, including Mecca where she was worshipped alongside Manat and al-'Uzza . The word Allat or Elat has been used to refer to various goddesses in the ancient Near East , including the goddess Asherah-Athirat . Al-Lat was attested in south Arabian inscriptions as Lat and Latan , but she had more prominence in north Arabia and the Hejaz , and her cult reached as far as Syria . [3] The writers of the Safaitic script frequently invoked al-Lat in their inscriptions. She was also worshipped by the Nabataeans and she was associated with al-'Uzza . The presence of her cult was attested in both Palmyra and Hatra . Under Greco-Roman influence, her iconography began to show the attributes of Athena , the Greek goddess of war, as well as her Roman equivalent Min...
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