Ruda

SEX RECORDED AS 'varies', BECAUSE THE SOURCES DIFFER BY REGION AND SAY SO EXPLICITLY: male among the Lihyan and the north-western tribes, female among the Safaitic Bedouin. Picking one would have hidden the most interesting thing about this deity.

Domains

• north arabian trinity
• lihyanite and safaitic cult

Relations

• of the north arabian trinity with: Nuha
• of the north arabian trinity with: Atarsamain

Sources

• Reference treatment of the North Arabian deities Ruda, Nuha and Atarsamain: in the inscriptions of the Lihyan and other north-western Arabian tribes the deity Ruda is named as Rdw and is a MALE deity, while in the religion of the Safaitic Bedouin of the Syro-Arabian desert and north-central Arabia Ruda remains a FEMALE goddess; Nuha is a deity worshipped among the northern Arabian tribes, associated with the sun, who formed part of a trinity of gods along with Ruda and Atarsamain. Ibn Ishaq additionally records a house of worship called Ruda' built by the Banu Rabi'a ibn Ka'b of Tamim.
• Ibn Ishaq, via Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya