Jinn in The Pre-Islamic Era
Amongst archaeologists dealing with ancient Middle Eastern cultures, any spirit less than angels is often referred to as a jinni, especially when describing stone carvings or other forms of art.
Inscriptions found in Northwestern Arabia seem to indicate the worship of jinn, or at least their tributary status. For instance, an inscription from Beth Fasi'el near Palmyra pays tribute to the "Jinnaye", the "good and rewarding gods".
In the following verse, the Quran rejects the worship of jinn and stresses that only God should be worshipped:
"Yet, they join the jinns as partners in worship with Allah, though He has created them (the jinns), and they attribute falsely without knowledge sons and daughters to Him. Be He Glorified and Exalted above (all) that they attribute to Him." (Quran 6:100)
In the One Thousand and One Nights several types of Jinn are depicted that coexist and interact with Humans: šayṭān, the Ghoul, the Marid, the Ifrit, and the Angels. The One Thousand and One Nights seems to present Ifrits as the most massive and strongest forms of Jinn and Marids are a type of Jinn associated with seas and oceans.
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