Arab deities and their worship were essential characteristics of the Arabian Peninsula before the advent of Islam. The uneven coverage of the Peninsula in the literary sources leaves most of it in the dark, and archaeology has not yet closed the gap. The claim that idol worship was declining is, however, refuted by many details about idols and their worshippers in a variety of contexts. The pre-Islamic idols of Islam's holy cities Mecca and Medina are better known than those of other parts of the Peninsula, but idols