Abgal () 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
A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety and ...
of the Arabs (or
jinn
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also Romanization of Arabic, romanized as djinn or Anglicization, anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are Invisibility, invisible creatures in early Arabian mytho ...
) 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.
A
stele
A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
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. A monument from
Jebel al-Abiad (153AD) mentions him together with the deities
Bel BEL can be an abbreviation for:
* The ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code for Belgium
* ''BEL'' or bell character in the C0 control code set
* Belarusian language, in the ISO 639-2 and SIL country code lists
* Bharat Electronics Limited, an Indian stat ...
,
Baalshamin
Baalshamin ( arc, ܒܥܠ ܫܡܝܢ ''Baʿal Šāmīn'' or ''Bʿel Šmīn'' Blit. "Lord of Heaven ), also called Baal Shamem ( phn, 𐤁𐤏𐤋 𐤔𐤌𐤌 ''Baʿl Šāmēm'') and Baal Shamaim ( he, ''Baʿal Šāmayīm''), was a Northwest Semit ...
,
Aglibol
Aglibol is a god from Palmyra, originating from a north Syrian immigrant community. He is a moon god who was worshiped in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra as part of a trinity alongside Bel and Yarhibol, and associated with the sun god Malakbel. ...
,
Malakbel
Malakbel (Arabic: ملاك بعل) was a sun god worshiped in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, frequently associated and worshiped with the moon god Aglibol as a party of a trinity involving the sky god Baalshamin.
Etymology
Malakbel's name ...
,
Astarte,
Nemesis
In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), was the goddess who personifies retribution, a central concept in the Greek world view.
Etymology
The n ...
, and
Arsu, though according to he was a god of nomads, and usually mentioned in association with nomadic gods such as
Azizos,
Maan, Ashar, or Shalman.
According to 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.
References
Sources
*
*
Arabian gods
Tutelary gods
Palmyrene Empire
{{MEast-myth-stub