Ancient Arabian Mythology and Outside Influence

My version

Most people have likely experienced a time in their life where they were singing, reciting rhymes with a friend or telling stories to each other and found that they had a disagreement about the exact words or telling of the song, rhyme, or story. For my husband and me, our argument was always over the “Woodchuck” tongue twister. He swore his version was correct and I swore mine was. These variations arise due to the oral nature of these songs, rhymes, and stories that are passed to us in our childhood. Often times these variations occur regionally and/or culturally. Mythology follows this same pattern. It is therefore important when researching the origins of myths to understand the people of the lands where the myths arise. 

Although there is a vast collection of information available about the advent of Islam and the beliefs of Muslims throughout the Middle East and across the world, information about what the people of Arabia believed before the coming of Islam is scant. Most of the information available about the mythology of the area pertains to Ancient Sumeria, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Canaan, and Egypt. In order to better understand the beliefs of the Pre-Islamic Arabs, it is necessary to identify who the ancient Arabs were and the regions in Arabia in which they lived. 

Ancient Arabia is demarked as the Arabian Peninsula and includes the land stretching northward through the Syrian Desert (Hoyland, 5).  In comparison to the continental US, this area is approximately equivalent to one-quarter the size – a vast piece of land. Thousands of years ago, many diverse people occupied this large piece of land. Much of the land contains vast deserts and because of this, these ancient Arab people were isolated from each other. Their distance and isolation from each other combined with their closeness to other different nations and cultures near each corner of Arabia (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran, etc.) caused them to develop distinctive histories and traditions (Hoyland 5).  Many Arab tribes were nomadic in nature because of the lands’ great deserts and lack of resources, such as the bare necessities: food and water.  The term “Arab” is used in biblical texts to describe these nomadic people, and was likely used by these nomads themselves as a way to describe their identity, separating them from the “others”. Those that were sedentary generally existed in East and South Arabia near the boundaries to other nations or along habitable shorelines, where they had access to the resources needed to live.  

Although there were some differences between settled and nomadic Arabs, they still had fairly similar beliefs and practices. Their beliefs were pagan in nature, having many gods and goddesses that they believed in. Often cities or villages had patron deities and the settlers were the children of the patron deity. They had rituals and sacrifices that were made to their gods. They believed in omens and magic. They were idolaters. Even the nomadic Arabs would either carry stones with them or find stones hey believed in evil spirits, jinn or ginnaye, and ghouls. They believed in amulets for protection and magical medicines, like drinking a potion of your loved one’s ashes mixed with water to cure grief (Hoyland, 151). A particular belief that is widespread is that of the curse of the evil eye and it was this that they were often wearing amulets or had incantations to protect themselves with (Hoyland, 152). These ancient Arabs also believed in divination and would read signs in nature to make choices about the way to proceed. Especially important was the behavior of birds. Although most of these and other beliefs were widespread, they also had regional differences that may have arisen from their proximity to and interactions with other nations. 

Ancient Arabia is divided up into three main regions in Robert Hoyland’s Arabia and the Arabs: East, South, and North / Central (See Figure 1). North / Central Arabia also encompass what some might refer to as Western Arabia. I will attempt to show what influences existed that the people of each portion of Arabia would have most likely encountered and provide a list of examples of some of the beliefs in these regions. 

East Arabia

Hoyland describes Ancient East Arabia as being made up of Southern Mesopotamia, Dilmun, and Magan (current day Southern Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman). Major influences to the Eastern Arab population were from trade routes passing from northern Mesopotamia through to the Gulf and proximity to and trade with Elam in southwest Iran, and Meluha (Hoyland, 13). Throughout the ages, Influences grew as trade grew, bringing in contact with people (and sometimes rule) from Egypt, Assyria, Anatolia, Persia (specifically, Iran, in the middle of the first century AD), Greece, Macedonia, Parthia, and Rome (Hoyland 14-30). 

Mythological influences on the East Arabia Arabs thus would have ranged, over time, from that of ancient Sumerian traditions from Mesopotamia, Zoroastrianism from Persia, Hindu influences through Elam, to the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. Table 1 shows some examples of these influencing beliefs would have been common in East Arabia (Littleton, Spence, Telesco).

South Arabia

Southern Arabia was made up of what is now Yemen. Major influences to the Southern Arab population were from interactions and trade with Egypt and Ethiopia other areas of Arabia (Howland 40-41).  Like with Eastern Arabia, influences grew as trade grew, also bringing in contact with people (and sometimes rule) from India, Parthia, and Rome (Hoyland). 

The mythological influences that would have had an effect on the Arabs of Southern Arabia would have been much the same as that of Eastern Arabia, with a lesser influence from Assyria, Mesopotamia, and Babylon. As mentioned previously, Southern Arabs would have come into contact with Egyptians and Ethiopians, mostly due to their proximity to these other nations.  Because of this, Southern Arabia would have some additional mythological influences not listed in Table 1. See Table 2 for these additional beliefs that may have influenced Southern Arabs. 

North and Central Arabia

North and Central Arabia differ from the other regions because they consist mostly of arid land that lacks an abundance of the resources to be able to sustain settlement easily, especially in ancient times. Because of the difficulty of settling, the people who lived in these regions were nomadic, often referred to as Bedouins. It is the Arab Bedouins of North and Central Arabia that show up in Israelite and Assyrian writings such as the Judeo-Christian Bible. The Bedouin Arabs were pastoralists and traders that came into contact with the same outsiders as the other regions over time (Howland).

Mythologically speaking, Bedouins, as well as having their own particular beliefs, would have been influenced by all of the same outside nations as already mentioned. A difference from the other regions would be that they would have likely had more contact with Egyptian beliefs and especially Judaism and Christianity as those faiths grew.  

When communities have a lot of contact with people who have other traditions and other beliefs than their own, it is impossible for the new beliefs, stories, and traditions that they are exposed to not have some staying power. Often, especially in the case of military conquest and rule of a new entity, new religions are adopted along with new stories and traditions. Sometimes these stories are entirely new, but most often there is a mixing of the myths and traditions, producing something that appeases both parties, just as Rome assimilated the pagans by turning their winter solstice festival into a Christian holiday, Christmas. Thus, everything from Zoroastrianism to Christianity was introduced to the Arabs of Arabia.

Even before there were outside influences, the Arab population had a pantheon of Gods. Most villages had their own patron deity, of which the people of the village were called the children that patron god. Hoyland mentions an old Arab proverb which says, “’When you enter a village, swear by its god’” (Hoyland, 139-140). Often times, however, the communities still held a god or goddess that was the leader of all the other gods. 

Tables and Figures

Figure 1 Map of Ancient East, South, and North/Central Arabia (Hoyland)

  

Table 1 Examples of mythological influences on Eastern Arabia (Hall, Littleon, Spence, and Telesco)

	Sumerian / Mesopotamian / Babylonian / Assyrian	Persian	Indic from Elam	Greek / Roman
General	·      Clay figure amulets ·      The worship of a Sun god and the bull ·      The sacred cow with the life giving milk ·      Astrology ·      Metal amulets ·      Stone amulets ·      Crystal / gemstone amulets ·      Sacred dance ·      Trial by water ·      Knot charms / curative knots ·      Lucky / unlucky days ·      Lucky / unlucky numbers ·      Ritual sex ·      Curative drum beats ·      Incense for purification ·      Polytheism ·      Idolatry ·      Belief in an underworld ·      Humankind created from clay ·      Flood myth ·      Giants ·      Judaism ·      Christianity	·      Shell amulets to avert the evil eye ·      Magic ·      Monotheism ·      Zoroastrianism ·      Astrology ·      The Zodiac ·      Concept of good vs. evil ·      Angels, archangels, demons ·      Worship of fire ·      The concept of free will ·      Savior born of a virgin ·      Resurrection	·      The sacred cow with the life giving milk ·      Stone amulets ·      Crystal / gemstone amulets ·      Pantheon of gods ·      Sacred dance ·      Flood myth ·      Idolatry ·      Hinduism	·        Chicken feather charms / behavior in battle ·        Astrology ·        Crystal amulets ·        Stone amulets ·        Sacred dance ·        Numerology ·        Lucky / unlucky numbers ·        Belief in an underworld ·        Humankind created from metal – Iron ·        Flood myth ·        Idolatry ·        Prophecy
Deities	·      Bel, Yarhibol, and Aglibol (trinity) ·      Shamash ·      Allat ·      Ba’alshamin ·      En-lil ·      Ea / Oannes ·      Enki ·      Nabu ·      Marduk, the sun god ·      Ishtar ·      YHWH	·      Ahura Mazda ·      Mithras	·      Vishnu ·      Brahma ·      Ganesha ·      Shiva ·      Saraswati	·        Zeus ·        Apollo ·        Venus ·        Aphrodite ·        Gaia ·        Athena

Table 2 Additional mythological influences on Southern Arabia (Hall, Littleton, and Wikipedia)

	Egyptian	Ethiopian
General	·       Reincarnation ·       Creation god ·       Pantheon of gods and goddesses ·       Sun god ·       Sacred animals ·       The creator god’s thoughts bring things into being ·       Man made from clay ·       Vital essence(soul?) ·       Trinity ·       Good and evil ·       Snake as embodiment of evil ·       Belief in an underworld ·       Amulets ·       Kings were gods ·       Magic ·       Book of the Dead	·      Animism ·      Evil eye ·      Zarr ·      Musical rituals ·      Abdar ·      Good and evil ·      Jusaism ·      Christianity
Dieties	·      Re ·      Isis ·      Osiris ·      Thoth ·      Amun ·      Ma’at ·      Anubis ·      Atum

Works Cited

Hall, Manly P. The Secret Teachings of All Ages. London: Duckworth, 2006. Print.

Hoyland, Robert G. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. London: Routledge, 2001. Print.

Littleton, C S. Mythology: The Illustrated Anthology of World Myth & Storytelling. San Diego, Calif: Thunder Bay Press, 2002. Print.

Spence, Lewis. Myths & Legends of Babylonia & Assyria. Detroit: Gale Research Co, 1975. Print.

Telesco, Patricia. The Magick of Folk Wisdom: A Source Book from the Ages. Edison, NJ: Castle Books, 2000. Print.

Wikipedia contributors. "Buda (folk religion)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 26 May. 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.

Wikipedia contributors. "Zār." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10 Aug. 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.

Written on August 30, 2011 for my Independent Study in Religion with a focus on Mythology