Translations:The Pantheon of Tayma’/5/en

It is more likely that Ṣalm is represented by the bull-head altar since bullheads are frequently found with inscriptions mentioning Ṣalm, suggesting that Ṣalm was a lunar deity. This might be why Nabonidus was so interested in Tayma, he was a devotee of the moon God Sin and relocated to a city that was the center of moon God worship. The issue is that the inscriptions with bull-heads don't mention which Ṣalm they are referring to and the bull-heads themselves have solar disks between the horns anyway. Regardless, the fact that we have terms such as Ṣalm of Mahram and Ṣalm of Hajam indicate that Ṣalm was believed to be a tutelary deity of a given locality like the gny' (jinn) in Palmyra. In Palmyra there were many jinn who acted as tutelary deities of villages, settlements, encampments, orchards and tribes. Deities being "of" places is not unheard of in North Arabian, South Arabian and Aramaic, the most famous example being the Nabatean Dushara (of Shara). Ṣalm of Hajam, who was being introduced to Tayma in the inscription, might have come from Al-Hajam الهجم in Yemen. Another deity, Ṣalm of rb, also had a temple in Tayma. Inscriptions found in Najran and Jordan also record the deity Ṣalm. When Tayma waged war against Dedan or the Nabateans it was Ṣalm who lead these wars. Inscriptions mention nsr lslm (supported/aided Ṣalm) similar to the Quranic nasara نصر. Salm is found in many theophoric names such as *ṣlmd' "*Ṣalm has known," ṣlm'l "Ṣalm is God," and ṣlmškr "Ṣalm has been thanked."