Deities formed a part of the polytheistic religious beliefs in pre-Islamic Arabia, with many of the deities' names known. Up until about the emergence of Islam, polytheism was the dominant form of religion in Arabia. Deities represented the forces of nature, love, death, and so on, and were interacted with by a variety of rituals.
Formal pantheons are more noticeable at the level of kingdoms, of variable sizes, ranging from simple city-states to collections of tribes.Robin, Christian Julien, "South Arabia, Religions in Pre-Islamic", in The Kaaba alone was said to have contained 360 idols of many deities. Tribes, towns, clans, lineages and families also had their own cults. Christian Julien Robin suggests that this structure of the divine world reflected the society of the time.
Many deities did not have proper names and were referred to by titles indicating a quality, a family relationship, or a locale preceded by "he who" or "she who" (dhū or dhāt).
Pantheons and groupings
+PantheonDeitiesNorth Arabian ("Ma'addite"/"Maddeni") pantheon (including the Nabataeans, Palmyrenes, and Qedarites)Abgal, Abirillu, A'im, Allat, 'Ammi'anas, A'ra, Arsu, Asira, Atarsamain, Atarquruma, Bajir, Dai, Dhat-Anwat, Dushara, Fils, Gad, Hubal, Isaf and Na'ila, al-Kutbay, Manaf, Manawat, Nuha, Nukhay, Al-Qaum, Quzah, Ruda (deity) (earlier known as Ruldaiu), Sa'd, Suwa', Theandrios, Al-Uqaysir, Al-UzzaSouth Arabian ("Yemenite"/"Homeritae" [Himyarite]) pantheon (including the Sabaeans, Himyarites, Minaeans, Qatabanians, and Hadharem)A'im, Almaqah, 'Amm, Anbay, Athirat, ʿAṯtar (both his general form and in the form of ʿAṯtar Shariqan), Balaw, Basamum, Dhat-Badan, Dhat-Himyam, Dhat-Sanat, Dhat-Zahran, Dhu'l-Khalasa, Gad, Haubas, Haukim, Hawl, Nasr, Nikrah, Qaynan, Shams, Sīn, Ta'lab, Wadd, Yaghūth, Yatha, Ya'uq
Alphabetical list