The Arabs were always superstitious, and legends of all sorts cluster around every weird desert rock, gnarled tree or intermittent fountain in Arabia. The early Arabs therefore marked off such sacred territory by pillars or cairns and considered many things such as shedding of blood, cutting of trees, killing game, etc, forbidden within the enclosure. This is the origin of the _Haramain_ or sacred territory around Mecca and Medina. Sacrifices were common, but not by fire. The blood of the offering was smeared over the rude stone altars and the flesh was eaten by the worshipper. First fruits were given to the gods and libations were poured out; a hair-offering formed a part of the ancient pilgrimage; this also is imitated to-day. W. Robertson Smith tries to prove that _totemism_ was the earliest form of Arabian idolatry and that each tribe had its sacred animal. The strongest argument for this is the undoubted fact that many of the tribal names were taken from animals and that certain animals were regarded as sacred in parts of Arabia. The theory is too far-reaching to be adopted at haphazard and the author’s ideas of the significance of animal sacrifice are not in accord with the teaching of Scripture. It is however interesting to know that the same authority thinks the Arabian tribal marks or _wasms_ were originally totem-marks and must have been tattooed on the body even as they are now used to mark property. The _washm_ of the idolatrous Arabs seems related to their _wasms_ and was a kind of tattooing of the hands, arms and gums. It was forbidden by Mohammed but is still widely prevalent in North Arabia among the Bedouin women. Covenants of blood and of salt are also very ancient Semitic institutions and prevailed all over Arabia. The form of the oath was various. At Mecca the parties dipped their hands in a pan of blood and tasted the contents; in other places they opened a vein and mixed their fresh blood; again they would each draw the others’ blood and smear it on seven stones set up in the midst. The later Arabs substituted the blood of a sheep or of a camel for human blood. The principal idols of Arabia were the following; ten of them are mentioned by name in the Koran. _Hubal_ was in the form of a man and came from Syria; he was the god of rain and had a high place of honor. _Wadd_ was the god of the firmament. _Suwah_, in the form of a woman, was said to be from antediluvian times. _Yaghuth_ had the shape of a lion. _Ya’ook_ was in the form of a horse, and was worshipped in Yemen. Bronze images of this idol are found in ancient tombs. _Nasr_ was the eagle-god. _El Uzza_, identified by some scholars with Venus, was worshipped at times under the form of an acacia tree. _Allat_ was the chief idol of the tribe of Thakif at Taif who tried to compromise with Mohammed to accept Islam if he would not destroy their god for three years. The name appears to be the feminine of Allah.