Dr. Hythem Sidky

“Historicizing the Legendary Pre-Islamic Arabia through the Epigraphic Record”

To be held in Tübingen, Germany, Monday July 29, 2024

Click here to download the official poster advertising Dr. Sidky’s lecture

We hereby gladly invite you to Dr. Sidky’s public lecture "Historicizing the Legendary Pre-Islamic Arabia through the Epigraphic Record”:

Scholars have long recognized that the pre-Islamic Arabia portrayed in the sīrah and exegetical literature is at odds with how it is portrayed in the Quran. Specifically, the pagan opponents of the Quran, the so-called mushrikūn, are depicted in the secondary literature as idolaters who worshiped a variety of Arabian deities. On the other hand, a careful reading of the Quran reveals a group that is rather monotheistic - believing in the Biblical God but also recognizing lesser divine beings. A growing body of epigraphic evidence appears to vindicate the Quran’s portrayal of the mushrikūn and provides broader historical context for their beliefs. In his talk Dr. Sidky will explore the spread of the Paleo-Arabic script across Western Arabia, which seems to have served as a medium for monotheism. He will discuss how these recent findings in combination with comparative evidence, such as our knowledge of South Arabian Jewish-Sympathizers, can help us further understand the process through which syncretic Hijazi beliefs emerged.

The lecture is hosted by the ERC-Project The Qur’an as a Source for Late Antiquity (QaSLA) in cooperation with the Center for Religion, Culture and Society (CRCS).