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CHAP. XXV.] ANCIENT RELIGION OF THE ARABS.
661
Souriyyanih, therefore, seems to have been a language inter
mediate between the Chaldean and that of the Canaanites.
It is nearly the same as the Arabic of the Koran, which was
one of the two ancient languages of Arabia. 1 An ordinary
dialect now generally prevails throughout the territory.
Without doubt the Cushites carried with them from Baby- The earliest
Ionia the religion of the patriarchs, a good outline of which £ Arab/was
appears in the tenets of Khaled Ben Sanan Habsita. These th a a t t ri ^ c ^ e
are, first, one God, who is the Creator and Governor of the P
world; secondly, the resurrection of the dead; and, thirdly,
the punishment of vice and the reward of virtue. 2 To this
pure religion soon succeeded " the adoration of heavenly spirits,
as mediators between man and one immutable Holy Being,
and to these they raised temples and altars for sacrifices and
supplications, to which were subsequently added fastings." 3
It may easily be imagined how powerfully the first wan
derers through Arabia would be attracted by the softened
light of the Queen of Stars, which at once illumined their
steps during their lengthened journeys, and regulated the
periods of time; and it is not, therefore, surprising that the
moon became the object worshipped by Ad and his subjects. 4
But, ere long, the 'Adite worship was superseded by that The worship
of Saba the grandson of Yarab, who was surnamed Ab-del- supereedeTby
Shams, servant of the sun, 5 no doubt because he established that of BaaL
the religion of Baal; and probably, also, because he adopted
as a measure of time, the solar in preference to the lunar year.
The Canaanites worshipped both the sun and moon; and
on the adoration of these two heavenly bodies was engrafted
that of the seven planets, the twelve signs of the zodiac, and
twenty-four constellations; these became the objects of wor
ship in Yemen. But, in other parts, other objects of adora
tion were chosen. The Lahemites and Gadonites, for
1 Fulgence Fresnel, Quatrieme Lettre sur 1'Histoire des Arabes avant
I'lslamism, p. 37.
2 Ecchellensis, Chron. Orien., Appendix C, 6, p. 148. 3 Ibid.
4 Universal Hist,, by Abu Muhammed Mustapha ben Said; translated by
Dr. Aloys Sprenger.
5 Volney's Supplement to Larcher's Herodotus, p. 193.