I. Name
A deity Yaʿûq was worshipped by pre-Islamic Arabs. The personal names Yaʿăqān (Num. 33.31, Num. 32; Deut. 10.6; 1 Chr. 1.42) and ʿăqān (Gen. 36.27) have been interpreted as containing a reference to an animal deity worshipped by the Edomites (Roberston Smith 1912:455–483).
II. Identity
Islamic traditions refer to the cult of a deity Yaʿûq among the pre-islamic tribe of the Hamdān In the Yemenite village Ḫaiwān (North of Ṣan̂ā), there was a cult-centre. The Qurʾan Sure 71:20–25 and …