Dhat-Badan (), Dhat-hami, or Zat-Badar, ´She of the Wild Goats` and ´She of the Sanctuary',Forlong, John G.R., Encyclopedia of Religions, 2008 was a Himyarite goddess previously of the Saba' kingdom."Comptes rendus des séances." 1868. Indiana University. Retrieved 3 July 2026
Dhat-Badan was a nature goddess of the oasis and the wet season worshipped at tree-circled pools"You Are Divine", Dawn Reno Langley. Llewellyn Worldwide, Limited. January 8, 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2026 throughout the region of ancient Yemen, Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia. She was the goddess of fertility and agriculture.
She was said to forbid any invocation to her when there was no seeress or priestess present in her sanctuary.Müller, Walter W. Zwei sabäische Votivinschriften an die Sonnengöttin: Nami 74 und Yemen Museum 1965 (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1987), p. 64, as cited in Hoyland, Robert G. "Arabia and the Arabs : from the Bronze Age to the coming of Islam." (London; New York : Routledge, 2001), pg. 159-60. This priestess was called a ḥlmt, literally 'Dreamer'.Müller 1987, p. 64 In the sanctuary, the priestess would lie down and sleep before the sacred tree(s) of the goddess to receive an oracle in the form of a prophetic dream, similar to the Celtic Druidism tarbhfeis."Goddesses of the World", Yowann Byghan. McFarland Incorporated Publishers. May 12, 2026. Retrieved 3 July 2026
She was a popular goddess of the polytheists of Axum. The she-ibex was sacred to her and it was said that an island in the Red Sea inhabited by ibexes was under her protection.
References