into it and preserved there 111 This was probably
held al the votive offerings, including arrows used
done with the intention, as Wensinck suggests, of
for divination, jewellery for adorning idols, and
appeasing the god of the netherworld 112 Islamic
gold,119 and also that Muḥammad uncovered a
tradition relates how in the period shortly before
large amount of gold in the wel 120 During the pre-
the rise of Islam, at a time when the ancient Arab
Islamic period, sacred serpents were also known
tribes of the Jurhum controlled the Kaʿba, these
to have guarded the sanctuaries at Nakhla where
treasures were stolen from the sanctuary 113 There-
the cult of the goddess al-ʿUzzā prospered as well
upon, according to the Kitāb Akhbār Makkah
as at Dawmat al-Jandal where the god Wadd was
(“Book of Information on Mecca”) assembled by
served 121 These sacred serpents were also fed at
al-Azraqī, the ninth-century historian of Mecca
the sanctuaries, often with milk 122
and its sanctuary,114 God sent “a serpent which
According to the tenth-century Arabic geog-
had a black back and a white belly and a head
rapher Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad
like the head of a he-goat; this serpent guarded
al-Hamdānī (d 334/945–6), a treasure lay hidden
the sacred House [and its treasure] during five
near the high mountains Ḥufāsh and Milḥān
hundred years ”115 The serpent is called a “large
(Rayshān) in south Arabia Many Arabs sought
serpent” and has its dwelling place in the pit of
this treasure but they were always prevented from
the Kaʿba, where it guards the treasures 116 It is
reaching it by a serpent in the shape of a high
fed by daily food offerings thrown into the sacred
mountain which barred their approach 123
pit by the faithful and basks in the sun on the
The indirect association of the serpent with
stones of the Kaʿba 117 This is further elaborated
wealth in the interpretation of a dream is recorded
in the biography of the Prophet Muḥammad by
by al-Damīrī in his Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān al-kubrā
the Arab author ʿAlī ibn Burhān al-Dīn al-Ḥalabī
according to which:
who writes that “Allāh sent a white serpent with
He who dreams of being bitten by a serpent, in
a black head and a black tail and its head was like
consequence of which the bitten part is swollen,
the head of a he-goat It had to dwell in this pit
will obtain great wealth, for the poison indicates
in order to guard the objects there ”118 Al-Azraqī
wealth and the swelling indicates an increase in
notes that as a result the treasure of the Kaʿba
it 124
Panchatantra of the hooded serpent in the anthill who
pp 12–3, 85, as cited in Wensinck, 1916, repr 1978, p 63
daily bestows a gold piece on the poor Brahmin Haridatta
Cf Atallah, 1975, p 164
(Vogel, 1926, pp 173–4) or the legend of the gold-guarding
116 Ed Wüstenfeld, 1858–61, p 170, 10, cited after
black serpent of Rājagṛiha who was subdued by the Buddha
Wensinck, 1916, repr 1978, p 63 On the account of the
( Avadāna Śalākā IV, 1, ed Spencer, vol 2, pp 289–91, as
serpent in the well of the Kaʿba, sent by God to guard its trea-
cited by Vogel, 1926, p 21) Al-Bīrūnī records an episode
sury in the time before the Kaʿba was secured with doors and
from the Saṁhitā in which Varuṇa’s son, Agastya, devoured
a lock, see Canova, 1994, pp 421–5
the water of the ocean so that it disappeared, revealing the
117 Atallah, 1975, p 164 The role of the paternal grand-
lower parts of Mount Vindhya:
father of the Prophet, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, in providing secu-
rity for the treasury of the Kaʿba is also of relevance with
whilst the makara and the water animals were cling-
ing to it They scratched the mountain till they pierced
regard to the possible existence of a serpent cult at the site
it and dug mines in it, in which there remained gems
in pre-Islamic times Cf Nöldeke, 1869, p 416; Fahd, 1968,
and pearls
esp pp 40–1; Atallah, 1975, p 166
118 Al-Sīra al-Ḥalabiyya, Cairo, 1292, vol 1, p 189, 3–5, as
Kitāb fī Taḥqīq mā li-l-Hind, tr Sachau, 1887, p 93 The
cited in Wensinck, 1916, repr 1978, pp 63–4 and n 1
simile of the pearl-guarding monster similarly appears in Wīs
119 Kitāb Akhbār Makkah, pp 119–24
u Rāmīn, tr and ed Davis, 2008, p 473
120 Idem, p 124; al-Qāḍī al-Rashīd ibn al-Zubayr, Kitāb
111 Al-Azraqī, Kitāb Akhbār Makkah, ed Wüstenfeld,
al-Hādāya wa ’l-Tuḥaf (“Book of Gifts and Rarities”), tr
1858–61, pp 41, 14–6; 49, 1; 106, 14–6; 111, 11; 169; 171, 4;
Ghādah al-Ḥijjāwī al-Qaddūmī, no 175
as cited in Wensinck, 1916, repr 1978, pp 29–30 Atallah,
121 Atallah, 1975, p 165
1975, p 164
122 Idem, pp 164–6 The notion that serpents are drawn
112 Wensinck, 1916, repr 1978, p 30; see also Wellhau-
to milk appears also in the tale of the “Queen of the Serpents”
sen, 1897, repr 2007, p 103; Atallah, 1975, p 164
included in Alf layla wa-layla where the Serpent-Queen
113 Al-Azraqī, Kitāb Akhbār Makkah, ed Wüstenfeld,
is enticed into a cage by bowls of milk and wine ( The Book
1858–61, p 48, 8–10, cited after Wensinck, 1916, repr 1978,
of the Thousand Nights and a Night, tr Burton, 1885, vol 2,
p 63
pp 594–6)
114 The book was put together before 251/865, although it
123 Ṣifat Jazīrat al-ʿArab, (“Description of the Arab Pen-
also includes references from as late as 310/922–3; cf Grabar,
insula”), ed Müller, Leiden, 1884, p 68, as cited in Schleifer,
1985, p 2 and n 12
“Ḥufāsh,” EI² III, 548b
115 Ed Wüstenfeld, 1858–61, p 48, 8–10, German tr vol 4,
124 Tr Jayakar, 1906, vol 1, p 655
dragons and the powers of the earth
61
In another interpretation, the dreamer is not
conceptualisations that were introduced by the
bitten by a serpent but merely dreams of a smooth
Turko-Mongol dynasties for whom the colour
serpent that he can take wherever he likes, which
carried exalted associations 128
is interpreted as a sign that the dreamer will
In his romance Haft Paykar, which was com-
become wealthy:
pleted in 593/1197, the poet Niẓāmī Ganjawī
refers to “dragon-like locks on treasures rested ”129
If one dreams of possessing a sleek (smooth)
serpent which he has taken wherever he likes,
Surviving examples of such dragon locks are
[he] will obtain riches and become prosperous 125
rare 130 However dragon knockers that have a
part attached to a door, and another part linked
Moreover a dream of a black serpent (instead of a
to it by a hinge that may be lifted and used to
smooth serpent) is said to indicate the acquisition
strike a plate fitted to a door are used to gain
of power and governance:
entrance to a monument Well-known examples
He who dreams of possessing a black serpent will
are, for instance, the copper alloy knockers dis-
acquire a kingdom and government 126
cussed below that adorned the doors of the Great
Mosque (Ulu Cami) of Cizre (the former Jazīrat
The motif of a black snake as positive augury
ibn ʿUmar), now in the Türk ve İslam Eserleri
also appears in the Shāh-nāma when the young
Müzesi in Istanbul (figs 82 and 83)
Buzurjmihr, the later minister of Khusraw
The motif of the treasure-guarding dragon
Anūshirwān, was breathed on by a black snake
appears also in the first part of Niẓāmī’s prose
which was interpreted by his companion who
romance Iskandar-nāma (“Alexander Romance”),
witnessed the scene as a sign that Buzurjmihr
called Sharaf-nāma (“Book of Honour”) He
would attain a position of great power 127
describes how a certain Balīnūs, whose name is
The association of the colour black with the
the Arabic version of Apollonius (of Tyana), a
concept of royalty is interesting and may perhaps
renowned sage and magician of the first century
be related to the black banner of the ʿAbbasids
ad and author of several handbooks on magic,
(black being supposedly the colour of the Pro-
accompanied Iskandar, represented as an Islami-
phet’s banner) but could also be a vestige of
cised Graeco-Iranian hero,131 on his conquest of
125 Idem, p 656 It is interesting to compare this with the
130 Such a lock is featured on a gilded and nielloed silver
Zoroastrian practice of taking snake omens as recorded in the
casket, now in the Treasury of St Mark’s, Venice Thought
New Persian text, the Mār-nāma (“Book of Snakes”) included
to have been either in crusader possession (Marshak,
in the Persian Riwāyats of Dastūr Dārāb Hormazdyār that
1986, pp 119–20 and n 89, figs 163–7) or the product of
date from 1679; one of the verse-lines stating, for instance,
a southern Italian or Spanish workshop ( Nobilis Officinae,
“If you see a snake on the day of Hormazd, your honour,
2005, pp 171–2, cat no 13; Venise et l’Orient, p 123, cat
property and income will increase ” See Panaino, 2005, p 79
no 93), the casket has been variously dated from the
126 Idem, p 656
twelfth to the fourteenth century: Anna Schwinger dates
127 Tr and ed Mohl, 1838–1878, vol 6, pp 247–9, ll
it to the twelfth century, or alternatively, proposes it as a
1037–1045
thirteenth- or fourteenth-century reproduction ( Nobilis
128 The adjective qara, literally “black,” designates the
Officinae, 2005, p 171, cat no 13), while Boris Marshak
prime compass point of the north, the place of origin of
(1986, p 435) has suggested to date it to the second half of
the Altaic tribes, hence acquiring the meaning “principal,”
the thirteenth century Most recently Francesca Leoni has
“chief” (in contrast to other compass points which are also
proposed that the casket originates from southern Italy,
described in terms of colour such as ak (“white”) indicating
or possibly Spain, and should be dated to the end of the
the south) Cf Pritsak, 1950–5, pp 244–5, 255 Qara was
thirteenth or the early fourteenth century ( Venise et l’Orient,
used in the onomastic of the Turkish tribes (for instance,
p 123, cat no 93; catalogue entry by Leoni) The flat lid is
the eighth-century seasonal camp of the eastern Turks, Qara
framed at the sides by epigraphic bands in Kufic, flanking
Qum; the Uighur capital from 744 to 840, Qarabalghasun;
two seated musicians whose depiction conforms to the
the southern Uighur capital after 840, Qara Xocho; and the
usual Islamic courtly iconography The decoration on the
first yuan capital, Qaraqorum) and as an epithet to the names
front of the casket includes two large interlaced ornaments
of Xiongnu and Turkic rulers There are also the Qara-Qitai
each enclosing a central cross-shape, suggesting that it may
(“Black Qitan”) who after the fall of the Liao empire ruled
have been made for the Western market One of the sides
over nearly the whole of Central Asia from the Oxus to the
depicts a human-headed harpy with a tail terminating in a
Altai mountains until 1175 and the Qarakhanids that ruled
large dragon head with gaping mouth Of particular note
in the lands of Central Asia straddling the T’ien-shan moun-
are the three extremely finely worked yet prominent hinges
tains from the tenth to the early thirteenth centuries It also
that terminate in two confronted dragon heads, their wide-
carries the meaning “strong, powerful” (Kramers, “Ḳarā,” EI²
open mouths touching at the tips The lock, which ends in
IV, 572b) as evidenced by its use in personal names of the
closely related dragon heads, fastens just above a pair of lion
Islamic period, such as the name of the Artuqid ruler Abū
heads
ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad ibn Qara Arslan (“black lion”) ibn
131 In spite of mythologising features that go back to
Dāwūd ibn Suqmān (561/1166–581/1185)
the Pseudo-Callisthenes, it is noteworthy that medieval
129 Tr Meisami, 1993, p 221
Islamic authors differentiated between the legendary and
62