Arsu

Fertile Crescent; myth series
	Mesopotamian
	Levantine
	Arabian
	Near Eastern Religions
	The Levant
El; Anat; Arsu; Asherah; Astarte; Attar; Atargatis; Azizos; Baal; Ba‘alat Gebal;	Berith; Eshmun; Kothar-wa-Khasis; Mot; Shalim; Shapash; Yahweh; Yam; Yarikh;

Arsu
Arsu
God of the evening star
	Relief showing Arsu from Temple of Adonis, Dura-Europos
Planet	Mercury
Personal information
Siblings	Azizos
Equivalents
Arabia equivalent	Ruda

Arsu was a god worshipped in Palmyra, Syria.

A deity known from Syrian and northern Arabian lands, being sometimes in male or in female (most often) representation. Arsu was connected with the evening star.

Frequently portrayed as riding a camel and accompanied by his twin brother Azizos; both were regarded as the protectors of caravans. His worship is also confirmed by material evidences in Temple of Adonis, Dura-Europos. In the temple complex there was a relief, which shows Arsu on a camel. The inscription under the figure goes: "Oga the sculptor has made (this to) 'Arsu the camel-rider, for the life of his son".[1] It is likely he was associated with the planet Mercury early on.[2]

Elsewhere in pre-Islamic Arabia, he was equated with Ruda (literally benign).

References

Finn Ove Hvidberg-Hansen: Arsu and 'Azizu A Study of the West Semitic "Dioscuri" and the Gods of Dawn and Dusk (= Historiske-filosofiske Meddelelser. Band 97), p. 7. Selskab 2007, ISBN 978-87-7304311-0
Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo (2001-01-01). "Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae 8: Thespiades-Zodiacus et Supplementum, Abila-Thersites (2 vols.). Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae, Indices (2 vols.)". American Journal of Archaeology. 105 (1): 105–106. doi:10.2307/507331. ISSN 0002-9114. JSTOR 507331.

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[1] Finn Ove Hvidberg-Hansen: Arsu and 'Azizu A Study of the West Semitic "Dioscuri" and the Gods of Dawn and Dusk (= Historiske-filosofiske Meddelelser. Band 97), p. 7. Selskab 2007, ISBN 978-87-7304311-0

[2] Ridgway, Brunilde Sismondo (2001-01-01). "Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae 8: Thespiades-Zodiacus et Supplementum, Abila-Thersites (2 vols.). Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae, Indices (2 vols.)". American Journal of Archaeology. 105 (1): 105–106. doi:10.2307/507331. ISSN 0002-9114. JSTOR 507331.