The Religion and Rituals of the Nomads of Pre-Islamic Arabia

Ahmad Al-Jallad, Ph.D. (2012), Harvard University, is Universitair Hoofddocent in Islamic Origins at the University of Groningen. He has published on inscriptions, writing cultures, and religions of Ancient Arabia and their reception in Islamic-period literary sources, as well as on the comparative grammar of the Semitic languages.

Preface

List of Illustrations

Sigla



1 Introduction

 1 Religion and the Inscriptions of the Pre-Islamic Nomads: From Thamudic B to Safaitic

 2 Scope and Methodology



2 Rites

 1 Animal Sacrifice

 2 Erection of the nṣb Stone

 3 The Ritual Shelter

 4 The Pilgrimage

 5 Ritual Purity

 6 Offerings

 7 Vows and Oaths

 8 Sacred Water



3 Divinities and Their Roles in the Lives of Humans

 1 Location of the Deities

 2 The Gadds

 3 The Gods and Their Worshippers

 4 Sin, Obedience, and Repentance?

 5 Malignant Magic



4 Fate



5 Afterlife

 1 Burial Installations

 2 Invoking the Names of the Dead



6 Visual Representation of Deities and the Divine World



7 Amplification and Why Write



8 Worldview—A Reconstruction



Appendix 1: Glossary of Divinities

Appendix 2: Previously Unpublished Inscriptions

Bibliography

Index