ture-gods; or at least if they ever were connected with nature,
they have parted with such associations. They are uncouth figures,
with vague legends and miscellaneous attributes. One set of them is
said to have been worshipped by the contemporaries of Noah; they are
big men, and it is their property to drink milk. Hubal was the chief
god of Mecca. It was his property to bring rain. Vadd was a great
man, with two garments, and a sword and spear, bow and quiver.
Jaghuth, "the Helper," was a portable god, not a stone probably,
since he was carried into battle by his tribe, as the ark was by the
Israelites. Another god is called "the Burner," no doubt from the
sacrifices offered to him. Each tribe has its god or set of gods, and
certain sacred objects connected with its gods. One god is found by
those who kiss or rub a certain black stone, another in connection
with a white stone, another with a tree. And of many of them there
are images; the stone has some work done on it, or there is a wooden
block roughly hewn. The "Caaba" is originally a black stone which is
kissed or rubbed at Mecca. The name was given, however, to the
cube-shaped building, in one of the walls of which the black stone
had been fixed. In this building there stood in old days images of
Abraham and Ishmael, each with divining arrows in his hand. Of such
idols a large number existed in Mahomet's time, and were destroyed by
him. In some cases the image had a house, and a person was needed to
guard it; this functionary also kept some simple apparatus for
casting lots or otherwise obtaining counsel from the deity, and oaths
and vows were made before him, to which the deity became a witness.

To these beliefs of early Arabia must be added a lively belief in
jinns, spirits who are not gods, since the gods are above the earth,
but the jinn is compelled to haunt some part of the earth's surface.
The jinns can assume any form they choose, and are often met with in
the shape of serpents. Wellhausen surmises that the seraphs of the
Jews are to be traced to some such origin. They infest desert places,
and are nocturnal in their habits. What they do is often not observed
till afterwards. They spy upon the gods, and may bring information
from above to men whom they haunt or with whom they are in league. Of
the magic of Arabia, the signs and omens drawn from birds, from
dreams, and other occurrences, it is not necessary to speak; and we
need only say, in concluding thi