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.

• PrefaceList of IllustrationsSigla1 Introduction1 Religion and the Inscriptions of the Pre-Islamic Nomads: From Thamudic B to Safaitic2 Scope and Methodology2 Rites1 Animal Sacrifice2 Erection of the nṣb Stone3 The Ritual Shelter4 The Pilgrimage5 Ritual Purity6 Offerings7 Vows and Oaths8 Sacred Water3 Divinities and Their Roles in the Lives of Humans1 Location of the Deities2 The Gadds3 The Gods and Their Worshippers4 Sin, Obedience, and Repentance?5 Malignant Magic4 Fate5 Afterlife1 Burial Installations2 Invoking the Names of the Dead6 Visual Representation of Deities and the Divine World7 Amplification and Why Write8 Worldview—A ReconstructionAppendix 1: Glossary of DivinitiesAppendix 2: Previously Unpublished InscriptionsBibliographyIndex

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.

• PrefaceList of IllustrationsSigla1 Introduction1 Religion and the Inscriptions of the Pre-Islamic Nomads: From Thamudic B to Safaitic2 Scope and Methodology2 Rites1 Animal Sacrifice2 Erection of the nṣb Stone3 The Ritual Shelter4 The Pilgrimage5 Ritual Purity6 Offerings7 Vows and Oaths8 Sacred Water3 Divinities and Their Roles in the Lives of Humans1 Location of the Deities2 The Gadds3 The Gods and Their Worshippers4 Sin, Obedience, and Repentance?5 Malignant Magic4 Fate5 Afterlife1 Burial Installations2 Invoking the Names of the Dead6 Visual Representation of Deities and the Divine World7 Amplification and Why Write8 Worldview—A ReconstructionAppendix 1: Glossary of DivinitiesAppendix 2: Previously Unpublished InscriptionsBibliographyIndex

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.

• PrefaceList of IllustrationsSigla1 Introduction1 Religion and the Inscriptions of the Pre-Islamic Nomads: From Thamudic B to Safaitic2 Scope and Methodology2 Rites1 Animal Sacrifice2 Erection of the nṣb Stone3 The Ritual Shelter4 The Pilgrimage5 Ritual Purity6 Offerings7 Vows and Oaths8 Sacred Water3 Divinities and Their Roles in the Lives of Humans1 Location of the Deities2 The Gadds3 The Gods and Their Worshippers4 Sin, Obedience, and Repentance?5 Malignant Magic4 Fate5 Afterlife1 Burial Installations2 Invoking the Names of the Dead6 Visual Representation of Deities and the Divine World7 Amplification and Why Write8 Worldview—A ReconstructionAppendix 1: Glossary of DivinitiesAppendix 2: Previously Unpublished InscriptionsBibliographyIndex