__NOTOC__The ''Book of Idols'' ('), written by the Arab scholar Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (737–819), describes gods and rites of pre-Islamic Arab religions. The text is critical of pre-Islamic Arabian religion and decries the state of religious corruption which the Arabs had supposedly descended to since the founding of the

Kaaba The Kaaba (, ), also spelled Ka'bah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah ( ar, ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة, lit=Honored Ka'bah, links=no, translit=al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah), is a building at the c ...

. The book was instrumental in identifying

shirk Shirk may refer to: * Shirk (surname) * Shirk (Islam), in Islam, the sin of idolatry or associating beings or things with Allah * Shirk, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province, Iran * Shirk-e Sorjeh, a village in South Khorasan Province, Iran ...

(the sin of

polytheism Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, t ...

) with "the idolatry of the pre-Islamic Arabs". Ahmad Zaki Pasha, the Egyptian

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...

, discovered the text; he bought the sole extant manuscript at auction in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

and the manuscript, one of many in his extensive collection, was donated to the state after his death in 1934. Zaki Pasha announced his discovery at the XIVth

International Congress of Orientalists The International Congress of Orientalists, initiated in Paris in 1873, was an international conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences ...

References

Translations

* English translation.

Additional literature

*H. S. Nyberg. "Bemerkungen zum ''Buch der Götzenbilder'' von Ibn al-Kalbi." Lund: Svenska Institut i Rom. Ser. 2, Bd. 1, 1939. pp. 346–66. {{Authority control 12th-century manuscripts Islamic literature Religion in Saudi Arabia Arabian mythology Medieval Arabic literature