Quran and Muslim Exegesis as a Source for the Bible and Ancient History r 35dedicated to Ilumquh, master of Awwam, in a Sabaean inscription, and
a Dedanite inscription records the offering of a statue to the god Dhu
Ghabat by Abdgawth, son of Zaydallah, to honor the house of Ahu Ali
and Ammi-Bal of Dedan.^72 In a Nabataean inscription from Imtan to the
Southeast of Bostra, a msgd is dedicated as an offering to Dushara and
A ̔ra, and Palmyrene inscriptions record the dedication of altars to vari-
ous deities.^73 An engraved plaque from Hatra lists the items dedicated to
a particular location, including a mace, spade, axe, trough, and lever, and
it details a curse put there to protect the contents.^74 Safaitic inscriptions
from the basalt desert preserve brief accounts of sacrifices and offerings
made for protection from the gods.^75
Some of the offerings and the pilgrimages made to make the offerings
are reported to be in fulfillment of a vow. Papyri from Nessana catalogs
the offerings brought to the monastery for the pilgrimage to Sinai.^76 An
Ammonite seal of Abīnadab records the vow Abīnadab made to Astarte
in Sidon and the statues dedicated at a particular location.^77 A Phoenician
inscription from the coast between Tyre and Acre states that ̔Abd-Alim
installed a gate and doors to Ba ̔al-Shamin in fulfillment of a vow. De-
danite inscriptions mark the offering of statues to Dhu Ghabat and other
deities as a votive offering [hnd-r].^78 A Thamudic inscription from Aqabah
Mashid records the consecration [nd-r] of an individual. Inscriptions in
Proto-Sinaitic originally from the entrance to a mine record the vows of
miners to offer sacrifices if they are rescued by the gods.^79
Some evidence also suggests that the rules for behavior at sanctuar-
ies and for pilgrims was not unlike some of the regulations defining the
Islamic ritual of the pilgrimage to the Meccan sanctuary. A Lihyanite in-
scription consecrates [’hrm] a rock “so that no woman can ascend it.”^80
The shedding of blood in the sanctuary [hgb] is prohibited by a Palmyrene
inscription.^81 An inscription from Shrine IV in Hatra contains an invoca-
tion against anyone wearing shoes past a certain point at the site.^82 Two
altars were set up and dedicated to “She ̔a-Alqum, the Good, the Bounti-
ful,” by Ubadu, son of Animu, son of Sa ̔d-Allāt the Nabataean, “who does
not drink wine [l’ št hmr]” in the year 132 ce.^83 Two Thamudic inscriptions
refer to the shaving of the head and the plucking out of hair in association
with pilgrimage and visitation of the site of the inscription.^84
These examples attesting to the establishment and visitation of sanc-
tuaries demonstrate the continuation of patterns and practices well
known from the royal inscriptions of the ancient Near East. Numerous