Evidence for Hermeticism in pre-Islamic Arabia?

[endlessdawn]

Has there ever been evidence of Hermeticism, i.e. Greco-Roman-Egyptian syncretic religion/philosophy being practiced in the Arabian Peninsula before Islam? I know that both Greco-Roman and Egyptian cults were present amongst traders and adjacent Arab tribes, and that the Sabians of Harran in Syria preserved and practiced a Hellenized Semitic pagan religion with Hermetic/Neoplatonic characteristics up into the 9th century, long after the advent of Islam. Were there similar cases or instances in Arabia proper?

 

[Firetree]

I have not been able to find it . I tacked the center moving from Alexandria to Harran , pre Islam . Considering hermeticism is a fairly textual thing , also it appears it entered Arabia via Persians and Sassanians .

 

[luxnatura]

Primarily, I do not think there was a sophisticated enough level of general philosophy in the Arabian Peninsula onto which the Hermetic arts could be grafted. In retrospect, that which underpins Hermeticism is universal, so it can be applied to nearly any system, but the primary religious / spiritual worship of tribal Arabian societies was surrounding the veneration of various local protector deities, and the "wisdom" system that existed was probably more geared towards moralistic teachings and/or water rights disputes.

The trade routes were littered with Greek and Egyptian artefacts, but I don't think the environment exited within which Hermeticism could take hold.

Monotheism spread easily there, as it does not require literacy, nor any real pre-existing system of philosophy. Monotheism very easily spreads due to that very low barrier of entry, whereas Hermeticism, as @Firetree mentions, has the pre-requisite of a textual thing, i.e. literacy, schooling, organized philosophy, etc.

If you follow the threads of Hermeticism that existed within Gnosticism, there is a single mention of an Arabian Gnostic in 2nd century pre-Islam, but the Greeks considered everything east of the Mediterranean as "Arab", so its not really indicative of anything on the Peninsula proper.

 

[Firetree]

Most of the early advanced stuff in Arabia was going on in the east ( eg. Dilmun) , based on trade between Indus Valley and Mesoptamia .

There were advanced ancient Yemeni Kingdoms like ..... just to throw a spanner in the works .... the Sabaeans .

But they were not into Hermetics like the Sabians of Haran were *.

They did some cool stuff though ; they built the Marib Dam . Then there was the Nabatians ( Petra ) , that got rich mostly on the desert into eastern Med trade routes carrying incenses - they were not influenced by hermetics either . The first Arabian hermeticists seem to be Muslim from the Abbasid Caliphate during the 8th and 9th centuries CE

* Its one of those parts of history that can trick you ... its a case of 'historical identity theft ' and shows how the people of Haran were able to claim exception from conversion and have their religion (hermeticism) accepted ( which resulted in Islam adopting their sciences and creating a new era, that spread to Europe and eventually gave impetus to the Scientific revolution ) . A very interesting story but off topic to the actual subject matter here .

 

[Naze]

Has there ever been evidence of Hermeticism, i.e. Greco-Roman-Egyptian syncretic religion/philosophy being practiced in the Arabian Peninsula before Islam? I know that both Greco-Roman and Egyptian cults were present amongst traders and adjacent Arab tribes, and that the Sabians of Harran in Syria preserved and practiced a Hellenized Semitic pagan religion with Hermetic/Neoplatonic characteristics up into the 9th century, long after the advent of Islam. Were there similar cases or instances in Arabia proper?

Keven Van Bladel wrote “The Arabic Hermes” which may have some answers or be of interest to you. It is an academic title, not esoteric, so be prepared for that. It’s on my list of reads, but I haven’t gotten to it yet personally. If you follow Esoterica YouTube, it is in his recommended library.

 

[Firetree]

^ This is after the rise of Islam ... and is not within the period the OP asks about .

 

[Naze]

^ This is after the rise of Islam ... and is not within the period the OP asks about .

Ahh. Thanks for the clarification. I did mention I hadn’t read it yet. Much appreciated.

 

[Clio]

Well, I guess one can legitimately feel a kind of “kinship of flavor” between certain Sufi treatises, the Hermetica, and Sabian/astrological cosmologies (macrocosm–microcosm correspondences, the science of letters, hierarchy of worlds, role of the Intellect).
But historically, we cannot claim that Sufism derives from Hermeticism or that it continues a pre‑Islamic Hermetic practice in Arabia: the evidence is lacking, and the Sufi masters themselves see themselves above all as heirs of Muḥammad, the Qur’an, and the Companions.
Here's a good reading : Kevin van Bladel, The Arabic Hermes: From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science. Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity, 2009.

 

[Firetree]

Thats post Islamic as well . However there are some opinions that Sufism was around before Islam .

'' a question mark hangs over the origin of Sufism because its praxis is not always deemed to be aligned with Islamic orthopraxy, and upon closer analysis certain peculiarities are exposed that raise concern about external influence. As such, how do we understand the anomaly as part of Sufism? To pose the hypothesis, the beginning of Sufism is Islamic, but its origin is foreign ''

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This effects some of the 'content' Sufism carries and within that , one might find hermetic connections, as well as influence from ascetics of Syria and Egypt, Neoplatonism, and other ancient esoteric practices.

 

[Shade]

there was some cross cultural ties of Manicheism and Zoroastrianism.
They didnt call it hermeticism but what I have read and wht I know of Zoroastrianism it very much embraces Hermetic principles although it's said it wasnt wide spread, it was still there until the Arabs took over.
Zoroastrianism focused heavily on the perfect mind, "2 dogs fighting over food that is too hot to eat is living in hell"
They had strict verbal recitles of their prayeers trying to get them absolutely perfect in vocalization, their alter would include water (life) and fire (light) which is what poemander told Hermes was the way to eternal life. Mastery over light and life.
They would spend large amounts of time fire gazing to have a dmt trip experience to see the light beyond duality in a pure trance and releasing of dmt is said to raise ones consciousness when the experience is understood and an alchemization takes place.