Translations:Ḏušarē/13/en

The preference for aniconic representations of deities was not a religious taboo like in Judaism but simply an age-old cultural tradition that was briefly interrupted by an episode of Hellenism promoted by the Nabataean royal court. When the province of Arabia Petraea's capital was shifted from Petra to Bostra the baetyl of Dushara came to be understood as an omphalos, a cult stone that was the hub of the universe like the one at Delphi. Aniconic images and figurative images were often used side by side such as in the Dushara medallion (which is probably Obodas Theos not Dushara), in the temple of Dushara which had figurative sculptures in the façade but housed a baetyl inside, and in some coins where the baetyl is flanked by animals or Nike. We also have a sculpture in the Hauran depicting Dushara as a bearded God wearing robes and holding a scepter and perhaps as the Titan Aion in an interpretatio Graeca in this fresco from Shabwa (bottom left.) Dushara was also depicted as a young cuirassed God with thick long locks, wearing a laurel wreath as seen in coins from Bostra, Dar'a and Kerak from the 2nd to 3rd centuries. This is probably inspired by the coins of Alexander the Great. Additionally, Dushara is depicted as a baetyl placed on a mōtab in some coins. A mōtab is a shaped block of rock or platform used to carry or house a baetyl. We've also found terracotta figurines of a child God and a Goddess. These were speculated to be Eros, Harpocrates, Aion, Hermaphrodite, Ruda or even a temple boy.