View source for Almaqah

{{short description|Sabaean deity}}
{{More sources|date=August 2021}}
{{Pre-Islamic Arabian deities}}

'''Almaqah''' or '''Almuqh''' ({{langx|xsa|𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠}}; {{langx|ar|المقه}}) was national deity of the [[Sabaeans]] of the [[pre-Islamic Yemen]]i kingdom of [[Sabaeans|Saba']], representing the Moon or Sun god. He was also worshipped in [[Dʿmt]] and [[Kingdom of Aksum|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.{{Sfn|Maraqten|2021|p=109}}

==Characteristics==
[[File:Panel Almaqah Louvre DAO18.jpg|thumb|upright|Sabaean inscription addressed to the god Almaqah, mentioning five ancient Yemeni gods, two reigning sovereigns and two governors, 7th&nbsp;century&nbsp;BCE]]
Jacques Ryckmans states, {{quote|Almaqah is considered a moon god, but Garbini and [[Jacqueline Pirenne|Pirenne]] have shown that the bull's head and the vine [[motif (folkloristics)|motif]] associated with him may have solar and dionysiac attributes. He was therefore a priest of Ra, the male counterpart of the sun goddess [[Shams (goddess) |Shamash]] / [[Ishtar]] / [[Isis]], who was also venerated in Saba, but as a tutelary goddess of the royal Egyptian dynasty.<ref>{{cite book |author-first=Jacques |author-last=Ryckmans |contribution=South Arabia, Religion of |editor-first=D.N. |editor-last=Freedman |title=The Anchor Bible Dictionary |year=1992 |volume=6 |page=172}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Jacques |last=Ryckmans |title=Le Panthéon de l'Arabie du Sud préIslamique: Etat des problèmes et brève synthèse |journal=Revue de l'Histoire des Religions |year=1989 |volume=206 |number=2 |page=163|doi=10.3406/rhr.1989.1830 }}</ref><ref>For similar comments also see {{cite book |author-first=Jacques |author-last=Ryckmans |contribution=The Old South Arabian Religion |editor-first=W. |editor-last=Daum |title=Yemen: 3000&nbsp;Years of Art and Civilization in Arabia Felix |year=c. 1987 |page=107}}</ref>}}
The ruling dynasty of Saba' regarded themselves as his seed.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} Almaqah is represented on monuments by a cluster of lightning bolts surrounding a curved, [[sickle]]-like weapon. Bulls were sacred to him.

==Temples==
[[Marib]], the capital of the [[Kingdom of Saba]], had three important temples dedicated to Almaqah: the [[Temple of Awwam]] and the [[Barran Temple]] in the southern oasis, and the [[Harwanum Temple]] in the north. The Awwam Temple was the main oracular seat for Almaqah, and this was the case as early as the 7th century BC, although most inscriptions discovered at the site (amounting to several hundred) are from the first three Christian centuries. At inscriptions known from the Awwam Temple, Almaqah is given the epithet "Ṯahwān, Lord of Awām". The Awwam Temple was also an important site of pilgrimage across South Arabia during the month of ḏū-Abhī. Beyond Marib, another important temple for Almaqah is the oval temple of [[Sirwah]], another important urban city from the Sabaean kingdom. Here, "Lord of the ibexes". Additional sites of devotion are known from the Yemeni highlands, including an important one from the Alāw mountain, the center of the worship of several tribes and perhaps a secondary branch of the main Awwam Temple.{{Sfn|Agostini|2023|p=146–148}}

The [[Temple of Meqaber Gaʿewa]] near the [[Ethiopia]]n city of [[Wuqro]], is dedicated to Almaqah<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wolf |first1=Pawel |title=The Almaqah temple of Meqaber Gaʿewa near Wuqro (Tigray, Ethiopia) |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |date=July 25, 2009 |volume=40 |pages=367–380 |jstor=41224035 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41224035 |access-date=30 June 2023}}</ref> and contains an altar which represents a miniature model of the [[Yeha|Great Temple in Yeha]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nebes |first1=Norbert |title=The Inscriptions of the Aksumite King Hafil and their Reference to Ethio-Sabaean Sources |journal=Deutsches Archäologisches InstitutOrient-Abteilung Zeitschrift fürOrient-Archäologie |date=2017 |volume=10 |url=https://www.academia.edu/38709245 |access-date=30 June 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Almaqah Temple Libation Altar West side.jpg|thumb|Altar at Almaqah [[Temple of Meqaber Gaʿewa]] in [[Wukro]], [[Ethiopia]]]]

==See also==
* [[Ancient history of Yemen]]

==References==
{{Reflist|25em}}

== Sources ==

* {{Cite journal |last=Agostini |first=Alessio |date=2023 |title=The masʾal oracle: a survey of an ancient South Arabian divinatory practice |url=https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/abs/10.1484/J.SEC.5.137274 |journal=Semitica et Classica |volume=16 |pages=139–155}}
* {{Cite book |last=Maraqten |first=Mohammed |title=A Handbook of Modern Arabic Historical Scholarship on the Ancient and Medieval Periods |date=2021 |publisher=Brill |editor-last=Baadj |editor-first=Amar |pages=100–137 |chapter=Historiography of Pre-Islamic Arabia: Arab Scholars and Their Contributions to the Writing of the History of Ancient Yemen |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/50833369/Maraqten_2021_Historiography_of_Pre_Islamic_Arabia}}

==External links==
*{{Commonscatinline}}

[[Category:Arabian gods]]
[[Category:Axumite gods]]
[[Category:Lunar gods]]
[[Category:Sabaeans]]