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Religions of the ancient Near East |
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| Pre-Islamic Arabian deities |
| Arabian deities of other Semitic origins |
Abgal ( Arabic: أبغال) was a pre-Islamic Arabian god, whose worship is attested by inscriptions dating to the Palmyrene Empire – he is thought to have been primarily worshipped by nomads.
Overview
Abgal is known as a tutelary deity of the Arabs (or jinn) in the Palmyra region. Representations of him are of a youth with long hair and a moustache, wearing local garb, and holding a lance. He had a Greco-Roman style temple at Khirbet Semrin where he is portrayed on a relief riding a horse, equipped with bow and quiver attached to the saddle. [1]
A stele with imagery of Abgal and Ashar, and earlier inscriptions at Kirbet-Semrin dates the active 'worship' of this jinn to between 154 and 270 AD – references to the deity appear in the Palmyrene Empire but curiously none have been found at Palmyra itself. [2] A monument from Jebel al-Abiad (153AD) mentions him together with the deities Bel, Baalshamin, Aglibol, Malakbel, Astarte, Nemesis, and Arsu, [3] though according to Teixidor 1979 he was a god of nomads, and usually mentioned in association with nomadic gods such as Azizos, Maan, Ashar, or Shalman.
According to ( Drijvers 1980) representation of such deities (also Arsu, Asar, and Azizu) as armed and mounted men in statuary in a pair together was common across the desert regions of Syria/Mesopotamia – and together these representations may have represented divine protection. [4]
References
- ^ Teixidor 1979, pp. 80–81.
- ^ Teixidor 1979, p. 81.
- ^ Teixidor 1979, p. 82.
- ^ Drijvers 1980, pp. 159–160.
Sources
- Teixidor, Javier (1979), The pantheon of Palmyra, Leiden: Brill
- Drijvers, H.J.W. (1980), Cults and Beliefs and Edessa, ISBN 90 04 06050 2
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