A dawn god or goddess is a

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

in a

polytheistic Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the ...

religious tradition who is in some sense associated with the

dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's ...

. These deities show some relation with the

morning Morning is the period from sunrise to noon. There are no exact times for when morning begins (also true of evening and night) because it can vary according to one's lifestyle and the hours of daylight at each time of year. However, morning s ...

, the beginning of the day, and, in some cases, become syncretized with similar solar deities.

Africa

In Egyptian mythology,

Tefnut Tefnut ( egy, ; cop, ⲧϥⲏⲛⲉ ) is a deity of moisture, moist air, dew and rain in Ancient Egyptian religion.The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, George Hart She is the sister and consort of the air god Shu and the ...

, in part of her being goddess of the morning dew.

Americas

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota: /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations peoples in North America. The modern Sioux consist of two major divisions based on language divisions: the Dakota and ...

mythology,

Anpao In Sioux mythology (a Native American mythological tradition that includes Lakota mythology), Anpao (Lakota: ''Aŋpáo''), or Anp, is a spirit with two faces that represents the dawn. Anpao dances with Han, a primordial spirit of darkness, to ensu ...

, the spirit of the dawn, has two faces.

Asia

Indo-European

* Hindu-Vedic – Ushas

Israel

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passa ...

and

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

of The Bible are both referred to as the “morning star” since in ancient time, the morning star had been referred to as an entity of great power.

Japan

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto is the goddess of dawn, mirth, meditation, revelry and the arts in the Shinto religion of Japan, and the wife of fellow-god Sarutahiko Ōkami. She famously relates to the tale of the missing sun deity, Amaterasu Omikami. Her name can also be ...

( Uzume) is a

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shint ...

spirit with a temperament very similar to Ushas and Eos.

Philippines

*Munag Sumalâ: the golden Kapampangan serpent child of Aring Sinukuan; represents dawn *Tala: the Tagalog goddess of stars; daughter of Bathala and sister of Hanan;Jocano, F. L. (1969). Philippine Mythology. Quezon City: Capitol Publishing House Inc. also called Bulak Tala, deity of the morning star, the planet Venus seen at dawn *Hanan: The Tagalog goddess of the morning; daughter of Bathala and sister of Tala *Liwayway: the Tagalog goddess of dawn; a daughter of BathalaRomulo, L. (2019). Filipino Children's Favorite Stories. China: Tuttle Publishing, Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.

Europe

Indo-European

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo ...

– Hausos (reconstructed proto-goddess) * Albanian – Afërdita (), Prende * Armenian – Ayg, Arshaluys * Greek – Eos * Germanic – Ēostre * Hindu - Ushas * Norse – Dellingr * Roman –

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

(and later Mater Matuta) * Slavic –

Zorya Zorya ( lit. "Dawn"; also many variants: Zarya, Zara, Zaranitsa, Zoryushka, etc.) is a figure in Slavic folklore, a feminine personification of dawn, possibly goddess. Depending on tradition, she may appear as a singular entity, often called "Th ...

* Irish –

Brigid Brigid ( , ; meaning 'exalted one' from Old Irish),Campbell, MikBehind the Name.See also Xavier Delamarre, ''brigantion / brigant-'', in ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'' (Éditions Errance, 2003) pp. 87–88: "Le nom de la sainte irlandais ...

* Lithuanian – ''Aušra'' or

Aušrinė Aušrinė ("dawning", not to be confused with ''Aušra'', "dawn") is a feminine deity of the morning star (Venus) in the Lithuanian mythology. She is the antipode to "Vakarinė", the evening star. Her cult possibly stems from that of the Indo-E ...

* Latvian – Austra

Non-Indo-European

* Etruscan – Thesan, Albina (possibly) * Georgian – Dali

References

External links

* Lists of deities Solar deities {{Deity-stub