Arsu

{{Short description|Ancient deity from Syria and Arabia}}

{{Infobox deity

| type = Canaanite

| name = Arsu

| god_of = God of the evening star

| image = Ag-obj-6832-001-pub-large.jpg

| caption = Relief showing Arsu from Temple of Adonis, Dura-Europos

| planet = Mercury, Venus (as the Evening Star)

| siblings= Azizos

| equivalent1 = Ruda

| equivalent1_type = Arabia

}}{{Fertile Crescent myth (Levantine)}}

Arsu was a god worshipped in Palmyra, Syria.

A deity known from Syrian and northern Arabian lands, being represented as either male or female (most often). Arsu was connected with the evening star.

Frequently portrayed as riding a camel and accompanied by his twin brother Azizos; both were regarded as the protectors of caravans. His worship is also confirmed by material evidence found in the Temple of Adonis, Dura-Europos. In the temple complex there was a relief depicting Arsu on a camel. The inscription under the figure reads: "Oga the sculptor has made (this to) 'Arsu the camel-rider, for the life of his son".Finn Ove Hvidberg-Hansen: [https://www.royalacademy.dk/Publications/Low/2084_Hvidberg-Hansen,%20Finn%20Ove.pdf Arsu and 'Azizu A Study of the West Semitic "Dioscuri" and the Gods of Dawn and Dusk] (= Historiske-filosofiske Meddelelser. Band 97), p. 7. Selskab 2007, {{ISBN|978-87-7304311-0}} It is likely he was associated with the planet Mercury early on.{{Cite journal |last=Ridgway |first=Brunilde Sismondo |date=2001-01-01 |title=Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae 8: Thespiades-Zodiacus et Supplementum, Abila-Thersites (2 vols.). Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae, Indices (2 vols.). |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/507331 |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |volume=105 |issue=1 |pages=105–106 |doi=10.2307/507331 |jstor=507331 |issn=0002-9114|url-access=subscription }}

Elsewhere in pre-Islamic Arabia, he was equated with Ruda (literally benign).