EFFECT OF MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATIONS ON THE RELIGIONS OF ARABS BEFORE ISLAM

Abstract

Worship, beliefs and various religious rituals gained a significant place in the lives of Arabs since the period of the civilizations of Mesopotamia. Then, pre-Islamic Arabs had the same importance as they adopted these beliefs. The religions of pre-Islamic Arabs are mainly derived from the texts of ancient civilizations in the Mesopotamia valley (Babylonian, Assyrian, Sumerian, Akkadian, etc.). With their multiple dialects, these texts do not agree about various religious matters, as a result of the variation in the characteristics of these civilizations in terms of religious belief and worship, such as prayers, religious supplications, material eucharistic sacrifices. The current research attempts to find out how the religions of Mesopotamian civilizations affected pre-Islamic Arabs. Most of the religions belong to their ancestors in the period of ancient civilizations, especially Mesopotamian.