Enciclopedia Cattolica

DUSARES (ARABO DÜ ŠARÁ)

Dusares (Arabic Dū Šarā)

Volume IV · p. 1169 · 1950

English translation · Testo originale italiano

DUSARES (arabo Dü Šará). - Divinità degli antichi Arabi specialmente venerata dai Nabatei di Petra: le iscrizioni di Petra e della regione del Giordano orientale ne menzionano spesso il nome.
DUSARES (arabo Dü Šará). - Divinità degli antichi Arabi specialmente venerata dai Nabatei di Petra: le iscrizioni di Petra e della regione del Giordano orientale ne menzionano spesso il nome.

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

DUSARES (Arabic Dü Šará). — A deity of the ancient Arabs, especially venerated by the Nabataeans of Petra: inscriptions from Petra and the region east of the Jordan frequently mention his name.

In his principal sanctuary at Petra, he was worshipped in a large temple containing a huge black quadrangular stone. According to St. Epiphanius, his festival fell on December 25, when «the Virgin... and her son were celebrated with Arabic hymns.» Another sanctuary was at Suwejdá, where his festival was observed in August. He was identified with Dionysus as a god of fertility.

Bibl.: J. Wellhausen, Reste arabischen Heidentums, Berlin 1892, pp. 48-51. Alessandro Bausani