Almaqah
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| Part of the myth series on Religions of the ancient Near East |
| Pre-Islamic Arabian deities |
|---|
| Arabian deities of other Semitic origins |
Almaqah or Almuqh (Sabaean: 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠; Arabic: المقه) was the Moon or Sun god of the ancient Yemeni kingdom of Saba'. He was also worshipped in Dʿmt and Aksum in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Characteristics
[edit]Jacques Ryckmans states,
Almaqah is considered a moon god, but Garbini and Pirenne have shown that the bull's head and the vine motif associated with him may have solar and dionysiac attributes. He was therefore a priest of Ra, the male counterpart of the sun goddess Shamash / Ishtar / Isis, who was also venerated in Saba, but as a tutelary goddess of the royal Egyptian dynasty.[1][2][3]
The ruling dynasty of Saba' regarded themselves as his seed.[citation needed] Almaqah is represented on monuments by a cluster of lightning bolts surrounding a curved, sickle-like weapon. Bulls were sacred to him.
Temples
[edit]Both the Barran Temple and the Awwam temple were dedicated to Almaqah.[4]
The Temple of Meqaber Gaʿewa near the Ethiopian city of Wuqro, is dedicated to Almaqah[5] and contains an altar which represents a miniature model of the Great Temple in Yeha.[6]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Ryckmans, Jacques (1992). "South Arabia, Religion of". In Freedman, D.N. (ed.). The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Vol. 6. p. 172.
- ^ Ryckmans, Jacques (1989). "Le Panthéon de l'Arabie du Sud préIslamique: Etat des problèmes et brève synthèse". Revue de l'Histoire des Religions. 206 (2): 163. doi:10.3406/rhr.1989.1830.
- ^ For similar comments also see Ryckmans, Jacques (c. 1987). "The Old South Arabian Religion". In Daum, W. (ed.). Yemen: 3000 Years of Art and Civilization in Arabia Felix. p. 107.
- ^ "معبد برَّان.. هنا عاشت بلقيس سبأ". aljazeera (in Arabic). 24 March 2014.
- ^ Wolf, Pawel (July 25, 2009). "The Almaqah temple of Meqaber Gaʿewa near Wuqro (Tigray, Ethiopia)". Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies. 40: 367–380. JSTOR 41224035. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ Nebes, Norbert (2017). "The Inscriptions of the Aksumite King Hafil and their Reference to Ethio-Sabaean Sources". Deutsches Archäologisches InstitutOrient-Abteilung Zeitschrift fürOrient-Archäologie. 10. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
External links
[edit]Media related to Almaqah at Wikimedia Commons
