Editing Goddess (section)

===Ancient Near East===
====Mesopotamia====
{{Main|Assyro-Babylonian religion|Sumerian religion}}

[[Inanna]] was the most worshipped goddess in ancient [[Sumer]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wolkstein|first1=Diane|author1-link=Diane Wolkstein|last2=Kramer|first2=Samuel Noah|title=Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer|year=1983|publisher=Harper&Row Publishers|location=New York City, New York|isbn=0-06-090854-8|page=xviii}}</ref><ref>[[Sylvia Brinton Perera]], ''Descent to the Goddess'' (Toronto 1982) re Inanna and [[Ereshkigal]].</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Nemet-Nejat|first=Karen Rhea|author-link=Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat|date=1998|title=Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0313294976|page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/182 182]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/182}}
</ref> She was later [[syncretism|syncretised]] with the [[East Semitic]] goddess [[Ishtar]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Paul|article=The Sumerian Goddess Inanna (3400-2200 BC)|title=Papers of from the Institute of Archaeology|volume=5|publisher=UCL|date=1994|pages=110–111}}</ref> Other Mesopotamian goddesses include [[Ninhursag]], [[Ninlil]], [[Antu (goddess)|Antu]] and [[Gaga (god)|Gaga]].

==== Ancient Africa (Egypt) ====
{{Main|Netjeret}}
* Goddesses of the [[Ennead]] of [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]]: [[Tefnut]], [[Nut (goddess)|Nut]], [[Nephthys]], [[Isis]]
* Goddesses of the [[Ogdoad (Egyptian)|Ogdoad]] of [[Hermopolis]]: [[Naunet]], [[Amaunet]], [[Kauket]], [[Hauhet]]; originally a cult of [[Hathor]]
* [[Satet|Satis]] and [[Anuket]] of the triad of [[Elephantine]]

====Canaan====
{{Further|The Hebrew Goddess}}
Goddesses of the [[Canaanite religion]]: [[Ba`alat Gebal]], [[Astarte]], [[Anat]].

====Anatolia====
* [[Cybele]]: Her Hittite name was Kubaba, but her name changed to Cybele in [[Phrygia]]n and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] culture. Her effect can be also seen on [[Artemis]] as the Lady of Ephesus.
* [[Hebat]]: Mother Goddess of the Hittite pantheon and wife of the leader sky god, [[Teshub]]. She was the origin of the [[Hurrians|Hurrian]] cult.
* [[Arinniti]]: Hittite Goddess of the sun. She became patron of the [[Hittite Empire]] and monarchy.
* [[Leto]]: A mother Goddess figure in [[Lykia]]. She was also the main goddess of the capital city of Lykia League ([[Letoon]])

====Pre-Islamic Arabia====
In pre-Islamic [[Mecca]] the goddesses [[Al-Uzza|Uzza]], [[Manāt]] and [[Al-Lat|al-Lāt]] were known as "the daughters of god". Uzzā was worshipped by the [[Nabataean]]s, who equated her with the Graeco-Roman goddesses [[Aphrodite]], [[Urania]], [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] and Caelestis. Each of the three goddesses had a separate shrine near [[Mecca]]. Uzzā, was called upon for protection by the pre-Islamic [[Quraysh (tribe)|Quraysh]]. In 624 AD, during the [[Battle of Uhud]], the war cry of the Qurayshites was, "O people of Uzzā, people of [[Hubal]]!" (Tawil 1993).

According to [[Ibn Ishaq]]'s controversial account of the [[Satanic Verses]] (''q.v.''), these verses had previously endorsed them as intercessors for [[Muslims]], but were abrogated. Most Muslim scholars have regarded the story as historically implausible, while opinion is divided among western scholars such as [[Leone Caetani]] and John Burton, who argue against, and [[William Muir]] and [[William Montgomery Watt]], who argue for its plausibility.

The Quran ([[Q53:19-31]]) warns of the vanity of trusting to the intercession of female deities, in particular "the daughters of god".<ref>{{citation-attribution|1=[[Quran 53:19-31]] {{cite book |last1=Wherry |first1=Elwood Morris |author1-link=Elwood Morris Wherry |title=A Complete Index to [[Sale's Text]], Preliminary Discourse, and Notes |date=1896 |publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, and Co |location=London}} }}</ref>