The name of Al-ilah el gabal (the god of the moountains) parallels Al-illah (Allah = the god). The followers of Elgabalus had to be circumcised and were not allowed to eat pork.
The walking around the Kaaba 7 times is also an old semitic practice
The name of Al-ilah el gabal (the god of the moountains) parallels Al-illah (Allah = the god). The followers of Elgabalus had to be circumcised and were not allowed to eat pork.
The walking around the Kaaba 7 times is also an old semitic practice
The circling of the kaaba is a survival from the days of the worship of Saturn — the circling mimicking the rings, which were somehow known in ancient times. The kaaba itself used to have a large, seated idol, roundish and human-like, perhaps even buddha-like, and the site of course antedates Elagabalus (who eventually castrated himself as part of his religion, if memory serves) by millennia. It’s *possible* that the Black Stone was added much later, obviously. The idol, as well as the statues which used to line the avenue to the shrine, was destroyed eventually by the muzzies, clearly alterations have been made. The staircase that used to run from one corner up to the top of the kaaba was filled in long ago, for another example.
