A note on the trident mark, stone worship and cult practices in Southeast Arabia

The worship of baetyls in antiquity is well documented in the Near East and the Mediterranean, archaeologically as well as historically. While such practices were also common in South‐East Arabia, the archaeological information on it is still very limited. A boulder carved with a ‘trident’ (a mark f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Arabian archaeology and epigraphy 2024-11, Vol.35 (1), p.126-135
Main Authors: Overlaet, Bruno, Jasim, Sabah, Yousif, Eisa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Baetyl
Book of Idols
ed‐Dur
Mleiha
petroglyph
pre‐Islamic religion
Southeast Arabia
stone worship
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The worship of baetyls in antiquity is well documented in the Near East and the Mediterranean, archaeologically as well as historically. While such practices were also common in South‐East Arabia, the archaeological information on it is still very limited. A boulder carved with a ‘trident’ (a mark familiar from local Abiel coin issues), which came to light at the site of Mleiha, has a circular cavity on the side similar to those visible on stones and on an eagle statue from contemporary ed‐Dur. This association suggests a religious context for the Mleiha petroglyph and, thus, a possible identification as a baetyl. The archaeological evidence for stone worship and associated cult practices from the SE‐Arabian Mleiha/PIR A‐C period (3rd century bce–3rd century ce) is reviewed and compared with ethnographic parallels and information from, among other sources, the Kitāb al‐aṣnām (Book of Idols) by Hishām ibn al‐Kalbī (737–819 ce).
ISSN:0905-7196
1600-0471
DOI:10.1111/aae.12255