Lesson plan
Chaabou
According to the early Christian bishop Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 315–403), Chaabou or Kaabu ( ; ) was a goddess in the Nabataean pantheon—a virgin who gave birth to the god Dusares. However, a few modern scholars claim without proof that Epiphanius may have mistaken the word ("cube", etymologically identical to the name of the Kaaba), referring to the stone blocks used by the Nabateans to represent Dusares and possibly other deities, for the proper name of a goddess. His report that Chaabou was a virgin was likely influenced by his desire to find a parallel to the Christian belief in the virgin birth of Jesus, and by the similarity of the words and ("virgin") in Arabic, the native tongue of the Nabataeans.
Article summary
According to the early Christian bishop Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 315–403), Chaabou or Kaabu ( ; ) was a goddess in the Nabataean pantheon—a virgin who gave birth to the god Dusares. However, a few modern scholars claim without proof that Epiphanius may have mistaken the word ("cube", etymologically identical to the name of the Kaaba), referring to the stone blocks used by the Nabateans to represent Dusares and possibly other deities, for the proper name of a goddess. His report that Chaabou was a virgin was likely influenced by his desire to find a parallel to the Christian belief in the virgin birth of Jesus, and by the similarity of the words and ("virgin") in Arabic, the native tongue of the Nabataeans.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.