The Book of the Dead, Kitab al-Azif, the Necronomicon.

One of H.P. Lovecraft's most famous creations, and inarguably the most famous tome within the Cthulhu mythos,

the Necronomicon is a legendary book, with a fascinating history in both the mythos and in reality.

The first mention of the Necronomicon was in Lovecraft's short story, The Hound, in 1924.

Referring to an amulet, the narrator mentions how it is a thing hinted at in the forbidden

Necronomicon, which would be alien to all sane and balanced readers.

The author of the Necronomicon, the Mad Arab, Abdul al-Hazred, was mentioned a year earlier in the story The Nameless City.

Abdul al-Hazred was a fictional name with no real meaning, but some speculate that the name was a mistranslation of sorts.

One possible correct translation is Abd al-Azred, or Worshipper of the Great Devourer.

Whatever the case, according to Lovecraft's history of the Necronomicon, the mad Arab was supposedly a court

poet serving under a nobleman in Yemen, when he suddenly decided to depart from the civilized world

and began to wander the region. He visited the ruins of Babylon and Memphis, and wandered the

Arabian desert for ten years alone.

Finally, he settled in Damascus, and it is here where he wrote Al-Azif, later titled the Necronomicon.

Al-Azif supposedly translates to that nocturnal sound made by insects, supposed to be the howling of demons.

According to Lovecraft, shortly after writing the original Necronomicon,

Al-Hazard was torn apart and devoured in broad daylight by an invisible beast in front of many frightened witnesses.

Al-Hazred supposedly heard voices in his head, and was a worshipper of Yagstoth and

Kathulhu, so it's quite possible that Yagstoth directly gave him the knowledge in order

to pen the dreaded book.

The Necronomicon does contain a ritual that can be used to summon Yogsathoth, so this

theory is not completely unfounded.

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