Saudi Arabia Exposed: Inside a Kingdom in Crisis (UPDATED)

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The Nabataeans were known for their elaborate tombs, but they were not just for show; they were meant to be comfortable places for the dead. These included Bel, a god popular in the Syrian city of Palmyra, the Mesopotamian deities Nabu and Shamash, the Greek deities Poseidon and Artemis and the west Arabian deities Kahl and Manat.

The rejection of polytheism from the public sphere did not mean the extinction of it altogether, as polytheism likely continued in the private sphere.The practice of polytheistic cults was increasingly limited to the steppe and the desert, and in Yathrib (later known as Medina), which included two tribes with polytheistic majorities, the absence of a public pagan temple in the town or its immediate neighborhood indicates that polytheism was confined to the private sphere.

In addition to being worshipped among the Azd, Dushara is also reported to have a shrine amongst the Daws. The main god in Ma'in and Himyar was 'Athtar, in Qataban it was Amm, and in Hadhramaut it was Sayin. Allāt ( Arabic: اللات) or al-Lāt was worshipped throughout the ancient Near East with various associations.Zoroastrianism existed in the east and south, while there is evidence of either Manichaeism or Mazdakism being possibly practiced in Mecca.