On the History and Evolution of Qws: The Portrait of a First Millennium BCE Deity Explored through Community Identity

Abstract

This article explores the history and evolution of the deity Qws through a study of the communities affiliated with Qws, presenting also a current collection of all inscriptional references to this deity. Diachronic and spatial analyses of the references reveal nuanced insights into how Qws was understood by his adherents, as well as the patterns of behavior, linguistic practices, and identities that marked these communities. The attestations of Qws demonstrate the deity’s relative obscurity during the Late Bronze Age, a rapid rise in inscriptional popularity among persons associated with the region of Edom during the late Iron Age, and a regional perpetuation of attestation following the dissolution of the Iron Age southern Levantine polities. Furthermore, attestations of Qws among diasporic community’s present insights into the shifting identities and cultic practices of the immigrant communities affiliated with the deity.