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List of pre-Islamic Arabian deities

Sabaean inscription listing the gods 'Athtar, Almaqah, Dhat-Himyam, Dhat-Badan and Wadd.

Deities formed a part of the polytheistic religious beliefs in pre-Islamic Arabia, with many of the deities' names known.[1] Up until about the time between the fourth century AD and the emergence of Islam, polytheism was the dominant form of religion in Arabia. Deities represented the forces of nature, love, death, and so on, and were interacted to by a variety of rituals.

Formal pantheons are more noticeable at the level of kingdoms, of variable sizes, ranging from simple city-states to collections of tribes.[2] The Kaaba alone was said to have contained up to 100 images of many gods and goddesses.[3] Tribes, towns, clans, lineages and families had their own cults too. Christian Julien Robin suggests that this structure of the divine world reflected the society of the time.[2]

Many deities did not have proper names and were referred to by titles indicating a quality, a family relationship, or a locale preceded by "he who" or "she who" (dhū or dhāt).[2]

Pantheons and groupings

Alphabetical list

Notes

  1. ^ a b Attested in archaeological and/or epigraphic evidence
  2. ^ a b Attested in al-Kalbi's Book of Idols

References

Citations

  1. ^ Hoyland 2002, p. 139.
  2. ^ a b c Robin, Christian Julien, "South Arabia, Religions in Pre-Islamic", in McAuliffe 2005, pp. 87
  3. ^ Armstrong, Karen (2000). Islam: A Short History. p. 11. ISBN 0-8129-6618-X.
  4. ^ a b Jordan 2014, p. 16.
  5. ^ Jordan 2014, p. 20.
  6. ^ Jordan 2014, p. 37.
  7. ^ al-Kalbi 1952, p. 37.
  8. ^ al-Kalbi 1952, p. 35.
  9. ^ Jordan 2014, p. 26.
  10. ^ Jordan 2014, p. 1.
  11. ^ Teixidor 1979, p. 81.
  12. ^ a b c Hoyland 2002, p. 134.
  13. ^ a b Lurker 2015, p. 56.
  14. ^ Jordan 2014, p. 47.
  15. ^ Jordan 2014, p. 72.
  16. ^ al-Kalbi 1952, p. 32.
  17. ^ a b al-Kalbi 1952, p. 51.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h Al-Lat
  19. ^ Peters 1994, p. 109.
  20. ^ Hoyland 2002, p. 40.
  21. ^ Cook, A. B. (21 October 2010). Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion. ISBN 9781108021234.
  22. ^ Coulter & Turner 2013, p. 305.
  23. ^ al-Kalbi 1952, p. 10.
  24. ^ John F. Healey, Venetia Porter. Studies on Arabia in Honour of G. Rex Smith. Oxford University Press. p. 93
  25. ^ Jordan 2014, p. 260.
  26. ^ Teixidor 2015, p. 90.
  27. ^ Gonzague Ryckmans 1952, p. 260.
  28. ^ J. F. Breton (Trans. Albert LaFarge), Arabia Felix From The Time Of The Queen Of Sheba, Eighth Century B.C. To First Century A.D., 1998, University of Notre Dame Press: Notre Dame (IN), pp. 119-120.
  29. ^ Julian Baldick (1998). Black God. Syracuse University Press. p. 20. ISBN 0815605226.
  30. ^ Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions, 1999 - 1181 páginas
  31. ^ J. Ryckmans, "South Arabia, Religion Of", in D. N. Freedman (Editor-in-Chief), The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1992, Volume 6, op. cit., p. 172
  32. ^ al-Kalbi 1952, p. 42.
  33. ^ a b al-Kalbi 1952, p. 54.

Sources