Almaqah
| Part of the myth series on Religions of the ancient Near East |
| Pre-Islamic Arabian deities |
|---|
| Arabian deities of other Semitic origins |
Al-maqah or Al-muqh (Template:Lang-xsa; Template:Lang-ar) was the moon God of the ancient Yemeni kingdom of Saba'. He was also worshipped in the kingdoms of Dʿmt and Aksum in Eritrea and Northern Ethiopia.
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. Almaqah is represented on monuments by a cluster of lightning bolts surrounding a curved, sickle-like weapon. Bulls were sacred to him.
Temples
Both the Barran Temple and the Awwam temple were dedicated to Almaqah.[4]
See also
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
External links
Media related to Almaqah at Wikimedia Commons
 | This Yemen-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
  | This Ethiopian history–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article relating to a myth or legend from the ancient Middle East is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |