Almaqah or Almuqh (Sabaean: 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠; Arabic: المقه) was national deity of the Sabaeans of the pre-Islamic Yemeni kingdom of Saba', representing the Moon or Sun god. He was also worshipped in Dʿmt and Aksum in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The main center for his worship was at the Awwam Temple, which remained in use until the fourth century AD.[1]
Characteristics
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.[2][3][4]
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.
^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.
