Religion for the old Arab was not only a cultural manifestation, but also the power from which life is driven and civic culture is characterized. The geographical factors and economic situation of Arab communities affected the formation of beliefs where the beliefs of the Saharan population differed from those of the urban people. The activities of society in trade and travel between cities made the people worship the things that can help them find their path in the deserts and dark nights. It is usual to find them worshiping the moon, stars and sun. On the other hand, the Bedouin community that depends on grazing, places of grass and forbs worships rain, thunder and lightning and so on. The social system impacted the religious beliefs as well.
Each tribe had its own beliefs that differ from what the other tribes believe in. Thus, there were many gods in the Arabian Peninsula including the sun, moon, stars, rain, storms, trees, mountains and others. Wirings are one of the most important sources that provide information on the religion of the Arabs before Islam such as names of gods, compound names and idol names in addition to other words related to worshipping which can identify the names of the gods. The Lehyanite discovered inscriptions contain several indications of religion in the Lehyanian society.
They made clear that Lehyanians used to worship the idol Zu Ghibah and built temples for it. In Khuraybah, there is evidence of temple for that idol. In its courtyard, a water basin more than two meters in height carved in a block of sandstone rock and a basin for washing and purification before entering the temple. The basin and some wall foundations around are the only remnants of the temple. In addition, Um Daraj Mountain and Al-Ula have remnants of another temple of Zu Ghibah that is difficult to access nowadays due to the erosion of the stairs. Located in the vicinity of the temple's remnants, there are two reservoirs engraved between rocks and among the rubbles of the temple walls.
There are also a number of statues or parts of them, in addition to some Lehyanian inscriptions written on stone sheets indicating sacrifices for Zu Ghibah. Other than Zu Ghibah, Lehyanians also worshipped different idols such as Salman, Abu Ilaf, Allat, Al-Oza, and Manat. Because of the presence of Al-Mainiah community in Al-Ula, they worshipped the gods known in their Kingdom, in the south of the Arabian Peninsula such as Nakrah and Widd, whose names included in the Al-Mainiah inscriptions found in Al-Ula. One of the inscriptions indicates in building of a temple for Widd in Al-Ula. In addition, the people of Al-Mainiah used to worship Lehyan idols where one of the Lehyan inscriptions indicates that the priest of Widd and his sons had provided a sacrifice to the Lehyan's god Zu Ghibah. In another text, there is a reference to a child statue provided by the priest of Widd to Zu Ghibah.
Thus, it seems that Zu Ghibah and Widd were competitors, but Zu Ghibah won the competition and worshipped in Al-Ula for more than five hundred years. Sacrifices and donations are put first in Lehyan religion. The Lehyans used to provide their gods talal that is a kind of almsgiving imposed on the land output or other wealth, which paid to the temple every year. They used to offer alms on the palms, other various crops, agricultural lands, funds and camels. Lehyan inscriptions shed light on the role of priests; such inscriptions included words as avkl and avklt, salh and salht. The word Avkl means the priest and Priestess, who serve the temple. The words salh and salht are the religious responsibilities and a person who collects the Kharaj or alms for the idol. The priests enjoy high religious and social status in the Lehyanian society that provides them money and prestige.
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