THE THEOPHORIC ELEMENT <’L> IN IBN AL-NADĪM’S LIST OF DEMONS
THE THEOPHORIC ELEMENT <’L> IN IBN AL-NADĪM’S LIST OF DEMONS

Summary/Abstract: In his Fihrist, the tenth-century scholar Ibn al-Nadīm produces a list of seventy names of demons, unfortunately without providing any information on his sources. Five names mentioned clearly contain the Semitic theophoric element <’l> ‘God’, attested in various orthographies, which may indicate that the se names were incorporated as a result of contact with other religions and beliefs. To this end, some other names with likely Semitic origins will also be discussed. The goal of this essay is to establish whence Ibn al-Nadīmtook these names and what this implies for our understanding of the contact between Muslims and non Muslims in early Islamic Mesopotamia.

• Details
• Contents