[179] They had developed their distinctive beliefs and practices, with a pronounced mystical and eschatological dimension. [63], The Ḥums were the Quraysh, Banu Kinanah, Banu Khuza'a and Banu 'Amir. There is much speculation over his origins and many historical researchers speculate that Allah is actually a recreation of a previous moon god. The Ḥilla association performed the hajj in autumn season while the Ṭuls and Ḥums performed the umrah in spring. Bes is an Egyptian god of play, war and recreation. The three goddesses were called the “Daughters of Allāh” in pre-Islamic Mecca, and they are mentioned in the Qurʾān (53: 19–22). [108] The defeat of the army he assembled to conquer Mecca is recounted with miraculous details by the Islamic tradition and is also alluded to in the Quran and pre-Islamic poetry. The Aramaic word was used by Christians to designate pagan gods reduced to the status of demons, and was introduced into Arabic folklore only late in the pre-Islamic era. [68] The other method, the practice of randomly selecting an arrow with instructions, was widely attested and was common throughout Arabia. [120] Religious divisions were an important cause of the crisis. Known as a giant and monstrous fish that lies in the deep ocean, … [179] Toward the end of the sixth century, the Jewish communities in the Hejaz were in a state of economic and political decline, but they continued to flourish culturally in and beyond the region. Hawbas, a goddess, was his consort (but seems to have been locally a masculine deity). [34] Winfried Corduan doubts the theory of Allah of Islam being linked to a moon god, stating that the term Allah functions as a generic term, like the term El-Elyon used as a title for the god Sin. She is believed to be of Mesopotamian origin (Ellat). Hubal. In Arabian mythology, the Sakinah is considered to be the feminine presence and spirit of the creator god Allah in the physical world - a ''sweet breeze whose face is like the face of a human''. In Arabian mythology, Al-Qaum was the Nabatean god of the night and of war, but also seen as a protector of caravans. Hawbas is also mentioned on an altar and sphinx in Dibdib. [89], The Himyarite kings radically opposed polytheism in favor of Judaism, beginning officially in 380. This page was last edited on 8 December 2020, at 22:33. [2][23][25][26][29], Regional variants of the word Allah occur in both pagan and Christian pre-Islamic inscriptions. Allāt (Arabic: اللات‎) The Arabian stone idolwho was one of the three respected idols by Arabs in Mecca. 2) – Pozzuoli, Electa Napoli 2008, pp. Many of the physical descriptions of the pre-Islamic gods are traced to idols, especially near the Kaaba, which is said to have contained up to 360 of them. The sun goddess Shams was the national deity of the kingdom of Ḥimyar. [127] Muhammad's denunciation of the Meccan traditional religion was especially offensive to his own tribe, the Quraysh, as they were the guardians of the Kaaba. [118], The second half of the sixth century was a period of political disorder in Arabia and communication routes were no longer secure. God of Protection. [163] Numerous mentions of jinn in the Quran and testimony of both pre-Islamic and Islamic literature indicate that the belief in spirits was prominent in pre-Islamic Bedouin religion. [54], Sexual intercourse in temples was prohibited, as attested in two south Arabian inscriptions. The powers or supernatural powers like the genie from the Arabian nights dominated the mindscape of the people of Arabia. [72], Blood sacrifice was definitely practiced in south Arabia, but few allusions to the practice are known, apart from some Minaean inscriptions. [36], Al-Lāt, Al-‘Uzzá and Manāt were common names used for multiple goddesses across Arabia. [4] Herodotus, writing in his Histories, reported that the Arabs worshipped Orotalt (identified with Dionysus) and Alilat (identified with Aphrodite). Baalshamin. Worship was directed to various gods and goddesses, including Hubal and the goddesses al-Lāt, al-‘Uzzā, and Manāt, at local shrines and temples such as the Kaaba in Mecca. Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia included indigenous animistic-polytheistic beliefs, as well as Christianity, Judaism, Mandaeism, and Iranian religions of Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, and Manichaeism. 1. The Nabatean inscriptions define Allāt and Al-Uzza as the "bride of Dushara". The former was represented on a horse with Arab dress while the other was shown standing on the ground. [177], The main areas of Christian influence in Arabia were on the north eastern and north western borders and in what was to become Yemen in the south. The goddess of the underworld in early Iranian mythology. The connection between the gods and goddesses to the animals is the combination of the god’s power and animal’s characteristics. [10] Tribes, towns, clans, lineages and families had their own cults too. God. [126] According to William Montogomery Watt, as the ranks of Muhammad's followers swelled, he became a threat to the local tribes and the rulers of the city, whose wealth rested upon the Kaaba, the focal point of Meccan religious life, which Muhammad threatened to overthrow. The Ṭuls comprised the tribes of Yemen and Hadramaut, 'Akk, Ujayb and Īyād. Al-‘Uzzá (Arabic: العزى‎) "The Mightiest One" or "The strong" was an Arabian fertility goddesswho was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca, Arabs only called upon her or Hubal for pr… [54] The area where Isaf and Na'ila's images stood was considered out-of-bounds for menstruating women. The major elements of Arabian mythology can, like many other mythologies, be broken down into Gods, monsters, festivals and folklore.Like many other mythologies in Eurasia, it deals with ideas and stories set down before the emergence of a monotheistic religion; in this case, Islam in the seventh century. [30][31] References to Allah are found in the poetry of the pre-Islamic Arab poet Zuhayr bin Abi Sulma, who lived a generation before Muhammad, as well as pre-Islamic personal names. [2][3], The contemporary sources of information regarding the pre-Islamic Arabian religion and pantheon include a small number of inscriptions and carvings,[3] pre-Islamic poetry, external sources such as Jewish and Greek accounts, as well as the Muslim tradition, such as the Qur'an and Islamic writings. [1] Although significant Jewish and Christian minorities developed, polytheism remained the dominant belief system in pre-Islamic Arabia. [124] Some Islamic rituals, including processions around the Kaaba and between the hills of al-Safa and Marwa, as well as the salutation "we are here, O Allah, we are here" repeated on approaching the Kaaba are believed to have antedated Islam. [1] Formal pantheons are more noticeable at the level of kingdoms, of variable sizes, ranging from simple city-states to collections of tribes. [58], Human sacrifice was sometimes carried out in Arabia. Sacrifice rites were not tied to a particular location though they were usually practiced in sacred places. [57] These officials were thought to tend the area, receive offerings, and perform divination. Atargatis. In Ḥaḍramawt, Ḥawl was probably a moon god; his name apparently alludes to the lunar cycle. … [190][191] It included Bahrain, Tarout Island, Al-Khatt, Al-Hasa, and Qatar. [2][25][26][29] Egerton Sykes meanwhile states that Al-lāt was the female counterpart of Allah while Uzza was a name given by Banu Ghatafan to the planet Venus. It has many crosswords divided into different worlds and groups. [12], In south Arabia, mndh’t were anonymous guardian spirits of the community and the ancestor spirits of the family. In Lithuania… [102] There is evidence to support the contention that some reports of the sīras are of dubious validity, but there is also evidence to support the contention that the sīra narratives originated independently of the Quran. Ya'qubi claimed all Yemenites to be Jews; Ibn Hazm however states only Himyarites and some Kindites were Jews. [87] The South Arabian gods in Aksum included Dhat-Himyam and Dhat-Ba'adan. In Maʿīn the national god Wadd (“Love”) originated from North Arabia and probably was a moon god: the magic formula Wdʾb, “Wadd is [my?] Prior to Islam the Kaaba of Mecca was covered in symbols representing the myriad demons, djinn, demigods, or simply tribal gods … [161] They seem to have had little trust in rituals and pilgrimages as means of propitiating Fate, but had recourse to divination and soothsayers (kahins). [143], Outside Petra, other deities were worshipped; for example, Hubal and Manat were invoked in the Hejaz, and al-Lat was invoked in the Hauran and the Syrian desert. [6], Muslim sources regarding Arabian polytheism include the eight-century Book of Idols by Hisham ibn al-Kalbi, which F.E. [30] Some scholars have suggested that Allah may have represented a remote creator god who was gradually eclipsed by more particularized local deities. [111] A soothsayer performed divination in the shrine by drawing ritual arrows,[107] and vows and sacrifices were made to assure success. [179] This day, which was called aruba in Arabic, also provided occasion for legal proceedings and entertainment, which in turn may have influenced the choice of Friday as the day of Muslim congregational prayer. [154] Ma'n, an Arab god, was worshipped alongside Abgal in a temple dedicated in 195 AD at Khirbet Semrin in the Palmyrene region while an inscription dated 194 AD at Ras esh-Shaar calls him the "good and bountiful god". Some of the members from the tribe of Banu Tamim had converted to the religion. Thus, the kingdom of Saba' had Almaqah, the kingdom of Ma'in had Wadd, the kingdom of Qataban had 'Amm, and the kingdom of Hadhramaut had Sayin. Among various lesser or local deities, the nature and even the sex of many of whom remain unknown, the better-documented are listed here. God of the Sky. In the polytheistic religions of Arabia most of the gods were originally associated with heavenly bodies, to which were ascribed powers of fecundity, protection, or revenge against enemies. [19] They are said to have a hideous appearance, with feet like those of an ass. [65], In south Arabia, oracles were regarded as ms’l, or "a place of asking", and that deities interacted by hr’yhw ("making them see") a vision, a dream, or even direct interaction. [86] The god Almaqah was worshiped at Hawulti-Melazo. [184] As the Persian Gulf region of Arabia increasingly fell under the influence of the Sassanians from the early third century, many of the inhabitants were exposed to Christianity following the eastward dispersal of the religion by Mesopotamian Christians. The influence of the adjacent Roman, Aksumite, and Sasanian Empires resulted in Christian communities in the northwest, northeast, and south of Arabia. There are some worthy of note, such as Dushara and Al-Quam the Nabataean Gods. The religion also existed in Persian-ruled area of modern Yemen. [164] However, there is evidence that the word jinn is derived from Aramaic, ginnaye, which was widely attested in Palmyrene inscriptions. [32] Muhammad's father's name was ʿAbd-Allāh, meaning "the servant of Allah". [164] One had to protect oneself from them, but they were not the objects of a true cult. [9] The relationship between a god and a stone as his representation can be seen from the third-century work called the Syriac Homily of Pseudo-Meliton where he describes the pagan faiths of Syriac-speakers in northern Mesopotamia, who were mostly Arabs. There is also evidence of existence of Manichaeism in Arabia as several early sources indicate a presence of "zandaqas" in Mecca, although the term could also be interpreted as referring to Mazdakism. Healey. Sanctuaries, cultic objects, and religious practices and institutions. [121] Judaism became the dominant religion in Yemen while Christianity took root in the Persian Gulf area. In Arabian mythology, the Sakinah is considered to be the feminine presence and spirit of the creator god Allah in the physical world - a ''sweet breeze whose face is like the face of a human''. It was believed to dwell in Sulayman's Temple and was known to Hebrews as shekhinah , with both the Arabic and Hebrew words meaning ''tranquility''. John F. Healey considers that al-Uzza actually might have been an epithet of al-Lāt before becoming a separate deity in the Meccan pantheon. [121] The practice of polytheistic cults was increasingly limited to the steppe and the desert, and in Yathrib (later known as Medina), which included two tribes with polytheistic majorities, the absence of a public pagan temple in the town or its immediate neighborhood indicates that polytheism was confined to the private sphere. Much of this religion is similar to other religions of the time - it has a number of deities, associated myths, as well as spirits that are seen as evil or good or bivalent. [136] They transformed it into a desert tent-shrine set up with a copper sculpture of a snake. [165][166][167] Similar reservations regarding the appearance of Manichaeism and Mazdakism in pre-Islamic Mecca are offered by Trompf & Mikkelsen et al. The deities attested in north Arabian inscriptions include Ruda, Nuha, Allah, Dathan, and Kahl. [58] Aside from Sabaean pilgrimages, the pilgrimage of Sayin took place at Shabwa. [46] Paola Corrente, writing in Redefining Dionysus, considers she might have been a god of vegetation or a celestial deity of atmospheric phenomena and a sky deity. In Qatabān the national god ʿAmm, “paternal uncle,” may have been a moon god. Goddess of the Sun. In Taymāʾ, in the northern Hejaz, Aramaic inscriptions of the 2nd half of the 5th century bce mention the gods Ṣalm, Ashimāʾ, and Shingalāʾ. However, in the Hejaz in the west, whilst there is evidence of the presence of Christianity, it is not thought to have been significant amongst the indigenous population of the area. [30] Some inscriptions seem to indicate the use of Allah as a name of a polytheist deity centuries earlier, but we know nothing precise about this use. Ta’lab was a god worshipped in southern Arabia, particularly in Sheba and also a moon god. Monimos derived from Mu'nim or "the favourable one", and was another name of Ruda or Ruldaiu as apparent from spellings of his name in Sennacherib's Annals. There are many more of such awesome gods … Arabian polytheism, the dominant form of religion in pre-Islamic Arabia, was based on veneration of deities and spirits. Kāhil, the national god of the central Arabian kingdom of Qaḥṭān in Qaryat al-Faʾw, was assimilated there to Dhū Samāwī. Arabian religion, beliefs of Arabia comprising the polytheistic beliefs and practices that existed before the rise of Islam in the 7th century ce.Arabia is here understood in the broad sense of the term to include the confines of the Syrian desert.The religion of Palmyra, which belongs to the Aramaic sphere, is excluded from this account. It is unknown if her worship and identity is related to her cult at Nakhla and others. Hubal, The Supreme God. Both the Ghassanids and the Christians in the south adopted Monophysitism. Purpose Herodotus wrote that the Arabs worshiped as sole deities Alilat (al-Ilāt), whom he identifies with both Urania and Aphrodite, and Orotalt, identified with Dionysus. [184], The third area of Christian influence was on the north eastern borders where the Lakhmids, a client tribe of the Sassanians, adopted Nestorianism, being the form of Christianity having the most influence in the Sassanian Empire. Other Liḥyānite gods were han-Aktab, “the Scribe,” and Baʿalshamīn, “the Lord of Heavens,” and ʿAglibōn, a fertility bull god, both of whom were borrowed from Palmyra. God of war. Conversely, the Sabaean god ʿAthtar Sharīqān appears in Qarya under the Arabic transcription ʿAthar [sic] al-Sharīq. She was placed in Taif 2. The descendants of Abna, the Persian conquerors of Yemen, were followers of Zoroastrianism. Goddess of Fertility. [42] Al-‘Uzzá (Arabic: العزى‎) was a fertility goddess[43] or possibly a goddess of love. [90] The rejection of polytheism from the public sphere did not mean the extinction of it altogether, as polytheism likely continued in the private sphere. Museo archeologico dei Campi Flegrei – Catalogo generale (vol. [131], The Safaitic tribes in particular prominently worshipped the goddess al-Lat as a bringer of prosperity. However, there is, in fact, little evidence for either proposition. Worship was directed to various gods and goddesses, including Hubal and the goddesses al-Lāt, al-‘Uzzā, and Manāt, at local shrines and temples such as the Kaaba in Mecca. Ruda. [164], Bedouin religious experience also included an apparently indigenous cult of ancestors. [102] Compounding the problem is that the earliest extant Muslim historical works, including the sīras, were composed in their definitive form more than a century after the beginning of the Islamic era. [11] While the Meccans and the other settled inhabitants of the Hejaz worshiped their gods at permanent shrines in towns and oases, the Bedouin practiced their religion on the move. The Exodus - Intervention from the Gods The Hidden Origins of Il Separatio: Manuscripts Deemed Dangerous and Banned "[14], Christian Julien Robin notes that all the known south Arabian divinities had a positive or protective role and that evil powers were only alluded to but were never personified. God. When qualified as Sharīqān, “the Eastern One” (possibly a reference to Venus as the Morning Star), he was invoked as an avenger against enemies. She appears also, in a minor role, in Sabaʾ. Representations of an almost identical dwarf-god … [179] In at least one case, it is known that an Arab tribe agreed to adopt Judaism as a condition for settling in a town dominated by Jewish inhabitants. [20] Other Arab deities include Dhu-Samawi, a god originally worshipped by the Amir tribe, and Kahilan, perhaps related to Kahl of Qaryat al-Faw. At Mina, animals were sacrificed. [53], Representation of deities in animal-form was common in south Arabia, such as the god Sayin from Hadhramaut, who was represented as either an eagle fighting a serpent or a bull. She was created by God as a spouse for Adam so that they could live in the Garden together. [158], A shrine to Dushara has been discovered in the harbour of ancient Puteoli in Italy. God. They believed that the ghost of a slain person would cry out from the grave until their thirst for blood was quenched. [20] Uzzayan's cult in particular was widespread in south Arabia, and in Qataban she was invoked as a guardian of the final royal palace. [124] Spring water acquired a sacred character in Arabia early on and Islamic sources state that the well of Zamzam became holy long before the Islamic era. [150], Palmyra was a cosmopolitan society, with its population being a mix of Aramaeans and Arabs. Al-Ilāt or Allāt (“the Goddess”), was known to all pantheons. She was created by God … Both Safa and Marwa were adjacent to two sacrificial hills, one called Muṭ'im al Ṭayr and another Mujāwir al-Riḥ which was a pathway to Abu Kubais from where the Black Stone is reported to have originated. [52] These god-stones were usually a free-standing slab, but Nabataean god-stones are usually carved directly on the rock face. [23] Maxime Rodinson, however, considers one of Allah's names, "Ar-Rahman", to have been used in the form of Rahmanan earlier. Like the Egyptian goddess of war, Sekhmet, had lioness’ head to show how ferocious she was. Artume was the Etruscan goddess of the night and Shalim was the Canaanite god of dusk. [178], A thriving community of Jewish tribes existed in pre-Islamic Arabia and included both sedentary and nomadic communities. [78] The main god in Ma'in and Himyar was 'Athtar, in Qataban it was Amm, and in Hadhramaut it was Sayin. [97] Inhabitants of several areas venerated Manāt, performing sacrifices before her idol, and pilgrimages of some were not considered completed until they visited Manāt and shaved their heads. [102][105][106], The Kaaba, whose environs were regarded as sacred (haram), became a national shrine under the custodianship of the Quraysh, the chief tribe of Mecca, which made the Hejaz the most important religious area in north Arabia. Quraysh tribe Najran '' various legends existed about the idols of Isāf and Nā'ila were located near the stone... Ibn al-Kalbi, which F.E 88 ] a stone later reused for the church of Enda-Cerqos at mentions. '' before sunrise revolved around a supreme god Hubal Isaf and Na'ila 's images was... Developed by Fanatee a Sabaean federation of tribes and rarely turned to others for their needs pantheon! In Syria and northern Arabia pre-Islamic Arabians, especially lightning the pilgrimage outside the of. Foreign influences, they also incorporated foreign deities and spirits [ 6 ], Allāt (:. Population being a mix of Aramaeans and Arabs in major sanctuaries [ 94 ] Al- ‘ Uzzá assuming!, Allah, Hubal was chief of the year, Dushara is also mentioned on altar. Arabic: مناة‎ ) was considered to have a shrine to Dushara has discovered... Such as Dushara and Al-Quam the Nabataean gods intercourse in temples was prohibited, as in... Allah is actually a recreation of a slain person would cry out from the Kaaba in.... Religious divisions were an important cause of the night and of war, but referred to as Adam 's (... Khuza ' a and Banu 'Amir humans and were much more immediate significance than 'Athtar with.! Ḥilla association performed the hajj in autumn season while the other hand, thought! 76 ] it included Bahrain, Tarout Island, Al-Khatt, Al-Hasa, and kept from! And Ṣafaites and south, while there is disagreement on whether Allah played major. 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