Arabian mythology
From Open Encyclopedia
| Myths of the Fertile Crescent series | |
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| Mesopotamian mythology | |
| Ancient Arabian mythology | |
| Ancient Levantine mythology | |
| Names of God in the Hebrew Bible | |
| Babylonian and Assyrian religion | |
| Yezidic religion | |
| Pre-Islamic Arabian gods | |
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Arabian mythology is the ancient beliefs of the Arabs. Prior to the arrival and initial codification of Islam on the Arabian Peninsula in 622 CE, year one of the Islamic calendar, the physical centre of Islam, the Kaaba of Mecca, did not hold only the single symbol of "the God" as it does now. The Kaaba was instead covered in symbols representing the myriad demons, djinn, demigods and other assorted creatures which represented the profoundly polytheistic environment of pre-Islamic Arabia. We can infer from this plurality an exceptionally broad context in which mythology could flourish.
The pre-Islamic arabs, such as the Garamantes, were influenced by ancient Egyptian and Babylonian mythology. These pre-Islamic mythological systems also later influenced Islamic mythology.
See also
Sources
- Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia by Jeremy Black and Anthony Green (ISBN 0292707940)
