Quran and Muslim Exegesis as a Source for the Bible and Ancient History r 31the Nabataeans.”^39 Other terms can refer to specific places designated for
certain ritual activities, such as the Nabataean reference to the “place of
the sacred banquet” [mškb] and the Phoenician inscription marking the
“holy place” [mqdš] of Saddam-Ba ̔al in Malta.^40
Muslim exegesis on Q 5:3 explains that the term “nusūb” refers to spe-
cial stones that were set up around Mecca to mark the boundaries of the
sanctuary in pre-Islamic times. The setting up of stones, pillars, and other
markers is widely attested in literary and documentary sources. A treaty
between Assur and Tyre (675 bce) mentions a “Bethel” and the treatises
of the kings of Kerak and Arpad in Syria were written on standing stelae.^41
The Bible (Ex 34:14, Deut 16:22) refers to the mšb as the means to worship
other gods, and a host of Greek words refer to the “baitulia” [bayt-el] as
stones that were believed to represent certain gods. The Lexikon of Suidas
(tenth century ce) describes how the Arabs of Petra worshipped the god
Ares through a standing stone.
Theus Ares is the god Ares at Petra in Arabia. The god Ares is wor-
shipped by them for they venerate him above all others. The image
is a black stone, rectangular and unshaped, measuring four feet in
height by two feet in width. It is set on a base worked in gold. To this
they burn incense and against it they pour the blood of the sacrifi-
cial animals. And that is their form of libation.^42The terms mšb and nšb are used commonly in the ancient world to des-
ignate stones marking temples and other sanctuaries in Phoenician, Ara-
maic, Minaean, Plamyrene, Nabataean, Syriac, and Safaitic. An Old Ara-
maic inscription testifies to a nšb erected for Allāt in the temple of Allāt.^43
A Nabataean inscription along the stepped path up Jabal al-Khubtha
claims: “These are the nšyby of al-Uzza and the lord of the house [wmr
byt’] which are made by Wahballah the caravan leader son of Zaidan.”^44
Pillars and other more stylized stones are also set up and inscribed
with dedications marking certain locations as sanctuaries. A Palmyrene
inscription on a column drum of limestone from the Ba ̔al-Shamin sanc-
tuary records that it was offered to Ba ̔al-Shamin, “the good god,” by Attai
and Shbahai, the daughters of Sahra, and Ata, the daughter of Firdaws, in
the year 335 [=23 ce ].^45 A similar Palmyrene inscription is found on an
altar in the temple of Arsu identifying the altar as dedicated to Arsu, to
Qismaya, and to the “daughters of El” in the year 375 [=64 ce].^46 An Old